


TMNT: The Hunger Games

by Nephilim1973



Series: TMNT: Hunger Games Trilogy [1]
Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2007 Movie), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 1987), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2003), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hunger Games Setting, Hurt/Comfort, I Don't Even Know, I'm Bad At Tagging, M/M, What I'm Doing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-11
Updated: 2016-06-11
Packaged: 2018-07-14 10:43:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 27
Words: 37,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7167881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nephilim1973/pseuds/Nephilim1973
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Leo has been forced by the Capitol to play in their horror filled game along with 23 other children. He will get some help from four other sets of turtles that only he can see.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The Shredder stood in the middle of the big platform as the turtles circled around him. Splinter stood had his hands tied to a stick, watching as his sons and their doppelgangers are stuck to individual scanners. “Oh, you shall perish, but not yet. You see, like you, I have recently learned that ours is but a single dimension in a multiverse of dimensions. Intrigued, I used this very portal to survey them all. Which is where I made a horrible, startling discovery. There are not simply eight of you but scores of you! Behold, the multiverse of the accursed Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!” The Shredder ragged. 

Multiple windows that held each a separate version of the turtles. One had them wearing red masks, one had them as though costumes, another which they looked big, and one where they looked blocky, and younger than the rest. “Awesome!” The 87 turtles yelled. 

“Destroying the eight of you will accomplish nothing! So long as Ninja Turtles exist somewhere in the multiverse, they will interfere in the plans of the Shredder. Our epic battle is never going to end! Unless I put an end to the turtles forever!” He screamed. Splinter stood in shook. He was not going to let the Shredder destroy his sons. 

“Even a creature as powerful mad as you, cannot believe you have the ability to subvert the entire multiverse?” Splinter yelled at the Shredder. The Shredder stared at Splinter, an evil glint in his glowing red eyes. 

“Let’s put that to a test, vermin.” He hissed, he turned to face the turtles. “It seems like branches hanging of a single tree, each of these dimensions sprang from a common source. Destroy the source, and you will have set off a chain reaction that will destroy Ninja Turtles everywhere forever more!” 

Splinter gasped. “And so you are being scanned. Broken down for the soul purpose for discovering your source DNA. Two turtle teams from two turtle worlds. Different in so many ways, but deep down there are similarities. And those similarities should point the path to the source dimension…Turtle Prime!” Shredder hollered. 

The turtles all yelled in pain as the scanners broke them down bit by bit. But what the Shredder didn’t know was that Karai was in the main control room foiling his plan. She was hitting several commands in the controls, trying to save the turtles from getting deleted. It was no use. She quickly found a safe portal and hit the portal to send them there. The turtles felt themselves being deleted, not knowing what was happening. 

“I only regret you will not survive to witness the end of your lives!” The Shredder laughed menacingly as the turtles started to disappear. “Turtle Prime located.” The computer told Shredder. He laughed harder as the echo of the turtles screams resonated throughout the room. 

“No!” Splinter screamed in rage. 

“There demise is only the beginning.” The Shredder said, and he went to the panel on the platform and hit a button. Suddenly it sparked and crackled. “What?!?” The Shredder shrieked. Suddenly the Technodrome was swallowed by a blue light and everyone- and everything- within distance was gone. 

(2007 verse)

“Let’s send them back where they belong!” Max Winters, aka Yaotl, told Master Splinter as bat like creatures came out of the swirling portal. The turtles were meanwhile fighting the stone generals. April and Casey were trying to find the last monster. That was the only way the monsters and generals can go back. 

Leo and Raph back up to a pillar fighting two of the stone generals. “They better hurry up with that last monster.” Leo grunted, block a sword to the face. “Ah, I’m sure my man Casey’s all under control.” Raph yelled back, dodging a fist. 

“That’s what I’m afraid of.” Leo said, kicking the general back. Meanwhile, the thirteenth monster was chasing the Cowabunga Carl Party Van through the streets of New York, heading for Winter’s Tower. 

The portal is getting unstable, Master Splinter thought. He turned to yell at his sons, “Boys, we must finish this, now!” and he moved out of the way. The turtles managed to drive the generals near the portal and kicked them into the portal. When the generals fell in, the portal sent an energy wave that knocked everyone back. 

“So, did we win?” Mikey asked, hesitantly peeking over the edge to see. A hand shot out and startled to turtles. General Aguila laughed, “Foolish creatures, we are immortals made of stone. Without the final monster to break our curse, we will never be stopped.” 

A car horn honked behind them, making the turtles take their focus off the generals. “Special delivery!” Casey yelled. The car overturned and collided with the wall. The monster jumped over a glass container and charged at the turtles and generals. The monster collided with them, sending the turtles and generals along with it into the portal. 

“No!” Master Splinter cried as he watched his sons get sucked up into the portal and disappear. 

(2012 verse)

Mikey kicked Savanti Romero in the face, making him fall onto the next gear. “It’s the blue button, Donatello!” Rennet told Donnie. Savanti sat up, groaning and rubbing his head. He looked up as the turtles and Rennet peeked over to him. 

“Let’s see how this thing works.” Donnie said. He aimed the Time Scepter right at Savanti.

“Turtle, let’s talk,” he pleaded, “before you make any rash decisions.” He held his arm up and grimaced, waiting for the blast. A beam of light from the scepter engulfed Savanti, lifting him up in the air and blasted him into a time window. 

“Are you sure this time that he’s gone for good?” Raph asked the apprentice.   
“Absolutely,” Rennet said, waving her hand in dismissal. She paused. “Sort of. Ninety six percent certain.” A noise came from behind them, soon a floating head with glowing, white eyes was facing them. It looked mad and annoyed.

“Rennet,” it hollered, its voice echoed. “You must come back to the future now. You are grounded.” It commanded. 

Rennet sighed. “Ah, grouck,” she whispered under her breath, then she addressed the floating head. “On my way, Lord Simultaneous, just got to drop off the turtles first.”

His mood shifted from mad and annoyed to excited. “Oh, the turtle warriors of legend! Very cold!” Then he disappeared. Rennet wiped her forehead. “Okay everybody, let’s go home.” 

Mikey shifted uncomfortably on the gear. “Rennet? Umm…can we kick it in the future together? Just you and me? For a little while?” He asked shyly and lowered his eyes from her, a blush on his cheeks. 

“Aw, I would love that Mikey! Maybe someday.” She told him and kissed his cheek. Mikey felt like he was on cloud nine. His heart skipped a beat and he let out a sigh of adoration, and fell to the floor. Rennet smiled at him and raised her staff. “Let’s go home, turtle heroes.” 

She opened a time window and let the turtles go in, she waited until Mikey got up and he grabbed her hand. “Cowabunga!” He shouted as him and Rennet jumped through the time window together. 

The time vortex was dark, and it was lightening. “Oh no, time interference! Somethings wrong!” She yelled. The Time Scepter light up and the turtles where being sucked into a time window. She made a beam of light shoot out and engulf the turtles and tried to pull them away from the window. It proved to be useless and she got blasted back and did a roll. “Oh, no.” She whispered in shock. 

(In another Dimension)

The Time Window opened and they landed with a thud. They laid there groaning, then a voice spoke up. “Are you guys okay?” Leo sat up and gasped. He saw a blue banded turtle who was really tall. Well, compared to him he was. 

“Who are you?” He asked, then realized he had no idea where he was. “Where are we?” His brothers finally sat up, rubbing sore and tender spots. “I think I cracked my shell,” Mikey gasped at the tall version of his older brother. He screamed and ran behind Raph, whose mouth was open in shock. 

“Come on, the others are over here.” He pointed over his shoulder and started walking. They slowly got up, “Should we trust this guy?” Donnie asked, looking toward Leo for advice. “He seems to know where he’s going, so I say follow him.” 

They followed the other version of Leo to a small clearing of the woods. Everywhere they looked it was just trees. Leo gasped as he saw three other sets of turtles like them. One group had their initials on the belt buckles. The others had a more serious expressions and the ones exactly like the big Leo had more muscle to them. 

“How’d you guys get here?” Donnie- the one with the initial on the belt- asked. 

“We got here because we were helping a girl named Rennet fix her problem with a Savanti Romero, who wanted to use a time scepter to control and bend reality.” Leo told them. “How about you guys.” He looked at the ones who were bigger than them. 

“We were fighting stone generals who wanted to bring an army of monsters into our world because Winter’s, their immortal leader, wanted to send them back. We just didn’t get out of the way in time.” Donnie explained. 

“We were transported to their world-“Donatello pointed to the serious looking turtles, “-because the Technodrome sent us there. We ended up having to battle their Shredder cause ours brought him back. He discovered the multiverse of turtles and scanned us to search for Turtle Prime. He then started to delete us but we woke up here and I don’t know how we didn’t get erased.” 

“Maybe someone thought we deserved a break for once?” Mikey asked jokingly. 

“Whoever it was is the least of our problems. Right now, we need to figure out where we are and more importantly how to get out.” Leo told them. Before anyone could think, a voice came from behind them. 

“You are in District 12 and may I ask what you are doing here?” They turned and gasped.


	2. Chapter 2

They turned and gasped.

The turtle had a cloke on that covered his upper body. Bandages wrapped around his legs and wore shoes made for his feet. His blue eyes narrowed at the turtles before him. “What’s up with the multicolored masks? Are you from the Capitol?” He got into a defensive position, ready to run if needed.

“What? No, we are turtles from another dimensions. We came here due to an accident in our worlds,” 12Don told him, trying to stop him from running away when they had so many questions. “We are originally from New York.” 

“Who are you?” asked 07Mikey. 

“My name is Hamato Leonardo,” the turtle- Leonardo- explained, “What’s yours?” 

“My name is Michelangelo,” he pointed at himself with enthusiasm, causing Leonardo to smile, “These are my brothers, Leonardo –what a big coincidence- Raphael, and Donatello. The rest are like us, but our dimension quadruplets.” He told Leonardo, each coming forward to shake his hand. 

07Don rolled his eyes at his little brother, “Dimensional duplicates, he means.” Leonardo chuckled, “Its fine.” 

“What’s this Capitol you’re talking about?” 03Leo demanded, crossing his arms over his plastron. Leonardo sighed. 

“The Capitol is the place where the wealthy and powerful people in all of Panem live. It’s lead by Lord Dregg and has economic and political hold over the Districts. They serve punishments there and it’s also where they host the Hunger Games.” He told them, voice carrying hate through his words. 

“Lord who and hosts what?” 03Mikey questions, confused to the other Leonardo’s anger. 

“Panem? Don’t you mean the United States?” 07Don asked. Leonardo shook his head. 

“No, the United States used to be here, but since an alien invasion happened years ago, and people everywhere turned into mutants. Aliens and Mutants have since then inhabited Earth and it’s been renamed as Panem.” Leonardo explained, while the other turtle’s eyes widened in terror. 

“Bishop didn’t do a good job from keeping the world safe from an alien invasion.” 03Raph mumbled under his breath. 

“Who?” asked Leonardo, leaning against a tree. 

“Never mind that, what’s the Districts? You said we were in 12?” 87Leo asked. The other Leonardo nodded.

“The Districts are a part of Panem, each one does a certain job. District 1 produces luxury items. District 2 makes weapons. District 3 produces electronics. District 4 specializes in fishing. District 5 specializes in electric power. District 6 specializes in transportation. District 7 produces paper and lumber. District 8 makes clothes and uniforms for the peacekeepers. District 9 produces grain. District 10 specializes in livestock. District 11 specializes in agriculture. District 12, which is where you are now, specializes in coal. The Capitol rules all the districts and we don’t get any of it. It all goes to the Capitol.” 

“What’s the Hunger Games? It sounds awesome!” 87Mikey exclaimed, thinking all they did was eat pizza. Leonardo became infuriated. 

“No it’s not ‘awesome,’” he mimicked 87Mikey, “its punishment for the rebellion years ago.” 

Leonardo sat down on an uprooted tree to explain, “The first rebellion came from the Dark Days, where the Districts got sick of the Capitol. Back then we had 13, who produced nuclear weapons,” he explained, seeing the Dons expressions, “District 13 started the rebellion. Soon the other districts sided with them. The Capitol bombed 13 and the others surrendered. A Treaty of Treason was signed and the Capitol made the districts put two tributes, between the ages of 12 and 18, to participate in a fight to the death.” He glared at 87Mikey.

“It’s a deadly game where only one comes out alive. Today, happens to be Reaping Day. The day where they pick the two tributes.” He told them, sulking on the tree. 

“Do you have to participate?” 12Raph asked, “Just not do it.” 

“It’s not that easy,” Leonardo sighed, “They force you to play and you watch as your loved ones die on the screen. Yes, they show it as a live event. The citizens of the Capitol treat them as stars instead of people.” Leonardo kicked the tree. 

The others were silent. Leonardo looked up at the sky, “I have to go hunt, and you guys can come if you want.” He walked toward a hollowed out tree but turned around, “You make one wrong move…” He threatened. 

“Got it, just continue.” 87Raph said, crossing his arms. Leonardo nodded and reached into the tree and pulled out a bow and a quiver of arrows. “Let’s go.” He took off into the woods, the others following him. 

The morning air felt right. Leonardo loved the morning air. He liked when he is running, the air moving around him and brushing across his face. The woods were a wonderful place to clear his head, and when he and his adopted father had an argument, he went to the woods to clear his head. 

He held up his hand to stop the others, but 12Mikey tripped on a root. “AHHH!” He screamed and rolled down the hill, he did a flip in the air and landed on the ground.

“Woah, what was that?” Leonardo asked in awe. 

“We are Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! Booyakasha!” This caused birds to fly off. 

“Shhh, you just scared away game!” Leonardo scolded him. This caused 12Mikey to look bashful, “Sorry,” he squeaked. 

Suddenly a twig snapped. Up ahead was a deer, “Stay here and don’t make a sound.” Leonardo instructed and moved closer. He climbed a tree and loaded his bow, he took aim. 

“What are you planning on doing with that, Leonerdo!” a gruff voice called from bellow. This caused Leonardo to lose his aim and let the arrow go. The deer ran off. He growled under his breath. 

“Raphael!” He shouted. Looking down he saw the other turtle smiling at him. He jumped down, landed a few feet away from him. “I was going to use that to trade with the peacekeepers. 

“You know they don’t trade around this time of year,” he grabbed a rock and threw it at a tree. This caused some birds to fly up. Leonardo quickly shot one down. “We just need to trade for small stuff today.” 

Leonardo saw the turtles come out of the bushes. “Raphael, I would like you to meet the turtles,” he introduced them. Raphael turned around, he looked back at Leonardo like he was crazy. 

“I think you finally cracked from the pressure, there is no one there.” Raphael went and picked up Leonardo’s bird. “Now come on, I need to check on my snares and we need to pick some fruit.” He walked off, leaving Leonardo behind with the confused turtles. 

“Why didn’t he see us?” 03Mikey asked, he turned to his brother, “You’re the smart one, you figure it out.” 03Don shrugged. “I have no idea? We can touch, feel and talk to this dimension Leo, but not with Raph? I got a weird feeling about this.” I

“We’ll figure that out later,” Leonardo whispered to them as they came back. 

“Did you get anything?” 12Leo asked. Leonardo shook his head and sat down with Raphael. They ate their food and started talking. 

“We could do it, take off and live in the woods.” Raphael said to Leonardo. He picked at the grass and laid on his back. 

“They catch us,” Leonardo told him softly. Then he remembered something, “Why are you talking about this now? You never said anything before about leaving.” He was angry. 

“I don’t want to be here anymore. I’m sick of the games, and I’m sick of watching people lose the ones they love, just because of some rebellion.” He punched the ground. Leonardo sighed. 

“I don’t know maybe someday, just that I have to feed Splinted and Mikey and they depend on me. I just can’t leave them behind and you have your family to worry about too. Besides, isn’t this your last day for being in the Reaping?” Leonardo asked him. 

“Yeah, I just wished you were already eighteen so I don’t have to worry about you.” He paused. “It’s Mikey’s first time isn’t it?” Leonardo nodded. He let out a sigh and drawled his legs close to him and put his head on his knees. Raphael put an arm around him.

“It’s going to be okay, besides, what’s the odds of him getting picked.” Raphael picked up a berry, “Happy Hunger Games and may the odds…” he mocked a certain woman, Leonardo laughed and finished it in a high note, “…be ever in your favor.” They laughed.

Leo grabbed his bird and got up. “Alright, let’s go.” The turtles followed them through the woods. Leonardo put back his bow and arrows. They walked to a fence and the two turtles crawled under the fence, while the turtles used a tree to get over the fence. 87Leo slipped and fell on his back. 

Leonardo gasped. “What?” Raphael asked him. 

“Nothing, let’s go.” He walked beside Raphael and occasionally looked back at them. 87Leo nodded to him mouthing, ‘I’m alright’. They walked with them to a small little square, where shop after shop was set up looking like a market. Poor mutants and aliens of every size wore ragged clothes or just wrapped in a blanket. 

“This is terrible,” 12Leo whispered to 12Raph, “all these mutants and aliens….” He trailed off. 12Raph grabbed his hand and they continues to walk forward. Raphael and Leonardo stopped at a small place and traded the bird and fruit for bread. Leonardo saw something on the table. 

“What’s this?” He asked. He picked up a pin that had a bird with an arrow in its beak. 

“It’s a Mockingjay pin,” the old lady, which they thought she was, with four eyes said. She folded Leonardo’s fingers around the pin and patted his hand. “You keep it, for so much you have done for me.” 

He nodded, and gave her a smile. “Thank you.” He waved her goodbye and they walked out of the market. 

As soon as Raphael left the turtles started asking questions. 

“Who was that?”

“What was that place?” 

“Who’s your family?” 

“Guys, guys,” he was tired of the questions, “easy there. One at a time. For your question,” he looked at 07Raph, “that was Gilda, she’s a Tamera, and she helped me and my family since the mine explosion.” 

“That place is the Hob,” he started, “It’s where we sell illegal items like game, alcohol and other items. Now, for that last question.” As he explained they went down a road, “My brother and I had parents, but Dad got killed in a mine explosion and mom got heartbroken and she died. My brother and I were living on the streets when a rat couple adopted us. We got a new home, food and a loving family.” 

The smile fell off his face as his voice held sorrow. “The female rat got sick with cancer and she died a month later after she got diagnosed. We are the poorest district so the Hob is a way to get stuff we can’t get, so I hunt to trade for items.” 

“You must be talking about Master Splinter.” 03Leo said. Leonardo stopped walking, he looked around before turning to 03Leo. “Master, he’s not a dictator is he?” 

“No, nothing like that! He took us in and trained us as ninja’s and took care of us as a father,” they all looked sad, “He must be so worried.” 

“At least he loves and takes care of you,” Leonardo growled, “after his wife died, he went into a comatose state and he didn’t do anything. I had to learn how to hunt by myself and take care of my brother because he didn’t do anything.” He shouted, and breathed deeply and let exhaled slowly. 

“That felt good to let out, sorry but the Splinter I know, and the one you know are different.” He continued walking and led them to a broken down house. Its shingles were falling off and a window was broken. 

“Man, the sewers are in a better shape than this.” 07Leo said, feeling sorry for the shabby house. 

“It might not be much, but its home.” He opened the door and took off his cloke, replacing it with a robe. He took his shoes off and walked into the room. They saw an old rat, with white fur very obviously showing age, and a young turtle getting his outfit done. 

“Is that…” Before 03Raph can say anything else, the young turtle saw Leonardo in the doorway. 

“Leo!” The young turtle pulled away from the rat and ran to give his brother a hug. 

“Hey, Mikey,” he pulled him away and looked at his brother. “You look great.” He said, spinning his brother in a circle. They laughed for a bit. 

“Yours is on your bed.” Splinter told Leonardo. He stopped laughing and nodded, not looking at the rat in the living room, whose ears laid flat on his head. 

“I understand that you’re mad, but you didn’t have to be cruel to him. He took you guys in off the street and you treat him this way.” 07Raph was fuming. 

“You weren’t there, you didn’t see how he looked, how he laid there and did nothing!” Leonardo whispered harshly. He went to his room and saw a red kimono laying on the blue quilt. “If you excuse me, I got to get ready.” He slammed the door. 

A few minutes later, Leonardo was out and the red kimono was on. “It’s weird seeing you wearing that.” 12Leo said, a smile on his face. 

“Why?” Leonardo asked. 

“Our Splinter wore the same thing.” 03Raph said. Suddenly, Mikey came walking out of the room. “You look cool!” 

“Not as cool as you,” Leonardo smiled. He sat Mikey down on a chair. He pulled the Mockingjay pin from the kimono pocket. “This pin is a sign of good luck. As long as you wear this nothing bad will happen to you.” He pinned it to Mikey’s shirt. The brothers smile at each other, but it went away when they heard a whistle. 

“It’s time.” Leonardo said. 

They followed the family out of the house and saw others leaving. Everyone wore something close to being formal and kids walked hand in hand with each other. No one talked. Just walked. The turtles followed Splinter, because Leonardo pointed them to follow him as he led Mikey to sign in. 

Mikey gasped. Leonardo had to pull his brother away. “It’s okay, once your signed in, head to your age group and after it’s over with, you find me, okay?” He wiped his brother’s tears away and he nodded. After they signed in, Leonardo went to his age group, he looked around and saw his brother near the front. The turtles in the back with the parents. Raphael with his age group. 

He mouthed to Leonardo, ‘You okay?’ He nodded. Soon the anthem played and a fox woman walked out. Wearing a purple outfit and a crazy amount of make-up. She wore large earrings and a beaded necklace. She tapped the microphone, “Welcome, welcome, the time has come to select a tribute for the annual Hunger Games. Now, before we begin, we have a film that came all the way from the Capitol.” She gestured to the screen behind her. 

The turtles watched the film that explained how the Hunger Games came to be. 07Raph rolled his eyes. “I really want to bash someone’s head.” He whispered to his Leo, who smirked and nodded. 

“Now, let’s begin.” She walked to the big bowl that held a bunch of paper. She plucked one and walked to the microphone. 

“She’s too cheery for this.” 12Don whispered to 12Raph, “I feel sorry for the one who gets picked.”

She opened the paper. The name that came out of her mouth stopped Leonardo’s heart cold. “Hamato Michelangelo!”


	3. Chapter 3

Leonardo felt the world move in slow motion. He did everything he could to protect his brother, but he got his name called. One in a million and he got called. On his first day of Reaping. He saw his brother move slowly toward the stage, his lower lip trembling and eyes wet. Leonardo felt himself move on autopilot. 

“Mikey?” He shouted, but his voice low from shock. “MIKEY!” He said louder, then darted forward at a run. He felt hands grab him. The peacekeepers were keeping him from trying to reach his brother. He knew only one way to keep his brother alive. He wasn’t sure how Mikey was going to like it. 

“I volunteer!” He screamed. The whole audience turned toward him, mouths wide open. He pushed his way through the peacekeepers. “I volunteer as tribute.” He said more calmly, staring at his shocked brother. 

“Isn’t this exciting,” the fox woman said, “our first volunteer in District 12. What a joyous celebration! Come forward, my dear.” She waved her hand. Leonardo watched as Raphael carried a crying Mikey to Splinter. 

Leonardo felt like his legs were made out of lead. He couldn’t get his feet to take another step. He finally managed to get to the middle of the stage and the fox woman spoke into the microphone. “What’s your name?” 

“Hamato Leonardo,” he said into the microphone. 

“I beat that was your brother, wasn’t it?” She asked. He looked at his brother, who was clutching to Splinter, the turtles just watched with straight faces. “Let’s give a round of applause to Leonardo!” She was the only one who clapped. 

The audience gave a bow. It was respect to someone who died or someone who is great. “Right then,” she seemed miffed, but Leonardo didn’t care. “Let’s choose another tribute.” She dug deeper this time and pulled out a slip of paper. 

“Masaki Donatello!” She announced. The turtles gasped as they saw a tall turtle walk onto the stage. He wore a purple shirt and pants, but now shoes. He looked nervous and slightly twitchy as the woman put a hand on his and Leonardo’s shoulder. 

“Our tributes, Hamato Leonardo and Masaki Donatello!” They soon were escorted into the building. The turtles quickly ran to the stage and jumped onto it and opened the door. They got there just in time to see Leonardo being put into a room. They walked in. 

“’Wear this pin, it will protect you,’ well, look where that put you now.” 03Raph yelled at Leonardo. He glared at this Raph, “I’m doing this to protect my brother. Something you should know deeply about.” He snapped. 

Before anyone else can get a word in the door opened, Mikey and Splinter walked in, well Mikey ran to his brother, hugging him around the waist and crying. “Why did you go and do that? I was willing to go, now I have to watch you die instead of me!” Mikey cried, staining the kimono with wet spots. 

Leonardo patted his brother, “Don’t worry about me, I know how to take care of myself. Besides, you have Klunk to keep you company. I wanted to do this,” he tilted his brother’s head so he can meet his eyes, “I’m doing this to protect you. I didn’t want to see you come back different. I like you as happy Mikey.” He tickled his brother under the chin.

He laughed. “You always know how to make me laugh.” He chuckled, “Please come back,” Mikey pleaded, hugging his brother tight. 

“Don’t worry, I will.” Leonardo held onto his brother tight. Soon they let go of each other and Leonardo approached Splinter. 

“Don’t give up on him. You hear me. You have to be there for him cause I won’t be. You have to be strong, don’t go back to that depression like you did before.” He instructed to Splinter, who nodded, but had wet eyes. 

A knock at the door sounded, a peacekeeper came in. “Time’s up.” He demanded. 

“Wait,” Mikey shouted, he took the Mockingjay pin off his shirt and gave it to Leonardo, “to protect you.” Leonardo smiled at him and watched as his brother got dragged out of the room. “I love you!” he managed to shout then the door slammed. 

“You better come back too, I’m starting to grow on ya.” 12Raph growled. Leonardo nodded. Then the door opened again, it was Raphael. He ran to Leonardo and they embraced. 

“You have to get a bow,” Raphael told him as soon as they broke apart, “make sure you get one and show them how good you are. It’s just a show to them and you give them one. You also know how to hunt.” 

“Yeah, animals,” Leonardo told him, hinting that it was obvious. “not other mutants or aliens.” 

“It’s no different,” Raphael argued. 

“There’s only twenty four of us and only one comes out.” Leonardo said, poking Raphael in the chest. 

“Yeah, and it’s going to be you.” Raphael said softly, putting a hand on Leonardo’s shoulder. A peacekeeper poked his head in. “Time’s up.” 

“Feed them Raphael, don’t let them starve,” Leonardo told him quickly, as Raphael struggled with the peacekeepers to stay a little longer. 

“Don’t worry I will,” he was past the threshold, “Leo, I-“but he was cut off.

“So what do we do know?” 12Mikey asked, looking at Leonardo. “We wait till they come get us.” He said and sat down on the couch. The room was fully furnished with curtains made of silk and throw pillows. 

“Who was that fox woman anyway?” 12Leo asked. 

“That was April O’Neal, the most annoying woman I ever know. She is District 12s escort to the Capitol, but she really wants to be transferred to another district cause she hates us.” Leonardo laughed. 

“I hate the dirt, I don’t want to ruin my new shoes!” he made his voice a higher pitch, the one he made in the woods earlier. Everyone laughed, the others finally getting why he did that. The door opened and Leonardo tried to stop laughing. 

“What’s so funny?” asked April, she had her hands on her hips, “come along the train is ready for you.” Leonardo sobered up right away. He walked out of the Justice Building and walked with April and Donnie to the train. The citizens watching them pass with sorrowful glances. 

The boarded the train and Leonardo gasped. The train cart was impressive. A crystal chandelier, food stacked on the table, alcohol and a beautiful table. Leonardo felt his stomach grumble. The first thing he did was stack a plate full of food. Donatello did the same. 

‘Funny,’ Leonardo thought, ‘being a bakers son, you think he wouldn’t be this hungry.’ Leonardo remembered walking past the display window and saw the wonderful cakes and pastries he couldn’t afford, but wanted to eat. 

“You think that they would teach you manners,” April scoffed. Just to make her mad, Leonardo licked his plate clean. She seemed more irritated at that. “Hmm, where’s Casey?” Her ears twitched, “I’ll be right back, the conductor needs me.” She left the cart. 

Leonardo and Donatello was left in awkward silence. 

“Soooo,” Donatello said, trying to start a conversation. “How are you?” Leonardo couldn’t look at him. ‘Does he even remember that night?’ Leonardo thought. 

He thought to the time when their mother died, Leonardo and Mikey were living on the streets. They walked past the bakery and raided the garbage can, but Donatello’s mother threatened to get the peacekeepers if they didn’t leave. They left, but Leonardo saw a small turtle peeking out from behind his mother. 

Leonardo knew they were going to starve, he needed to find food pretty soon. The door the bakery opened and the mom shouted at her son, “How dare you burn that bread! Throw it out to the pigs!” She slammed the door. The turtle looked back to make sure he didn’t see his mother and threw the bread toward Leonardo. 

Leonardo quickly picked up the bread, which was still warm and burnt on the underside, and gave one loaf to Mikey. He never forgot what Donatello did for him, cause after that, the next day, Splinter and his wife found them. 

“Hello? Are you still hear?” Leonardo shook his head, trying to forget the flashback. “Sorry, what did you ask?” 

“I asked, what do you think our mentor is like?” He asked, raising his brow. Leonardo shrugged. 

“Look if you don’t want to talk, that’s fine,” Donatello said, annoyed. Leonardo glared. He was about to say something but the door to the cart opened. In walked a very drunk salamander, his shirt was wrinkled and pants unbuckled. He walked to the table and grabbed a bottle. He bit the top off, spat it on the table, and took a big drink. 

“Are you our mentor?” Donatello asked, turning in his chair to the salamander. 

“Yep,” he said, his yep came out like a ‘yerp,’ he obviously started drinking a few hours ago. “Who are you?” he asked, squinting at the two. Yep, very drunk. 

“I’m Donatello, this is Hamato-“

“Leonardo, just call me Leonardo.” 

“Okay, this is Leonardo, we are your new tributes you have to train.” Casey, stumbled into the table but caught himself. “Yeah, what is it that I have to do?” He asked, they both looked at each other. 

“Give us advise and tell us strategizes how to defeat the other tributes,” he explained. Casey was beyond thinking normal, but he managed to say, “Okay,” then he collapsed on the floor. 

“Who’s going to drag him back to his room?” Leonardo asked, he turned to Donatello. 

“We don’t even know what room he’s in?” Donatello exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. Casey was snoring, he was passed out. “Let’s put him somewhere then, I don’t want to leave him here on the floor.”

Leonardo grabbed him under his arms, while Donatello grabbed his feet. “Okay, I’ll follow you.” Leonardo led them to an empty car with a bed and placed him on it. He wipped his forehead. “Thanks,” he said.

Donatello nodded. “I think I’ll turn in. See you later.” He walked out. Leonardo sighed and walked to his room. When the door opened, he was shocked.


	4. Chapter 4

“Guys,” he exclaimed, eyes widening in shock at the turtles. “I thought you guys were going to stay in 12?” he looked to 03Leo as he asked. 

“No way, we weren’t going to let you go through this on your own.” He stated, sitting on the bed, “We will follow you to the Capitol and that’s it. Besides, I don’t think the entire world wouldn’t want to see you talking to thin air.” He smirked. Leonardo blushed. 

“Okay, I didn’t want to be the one to mention the elephant in the room but what is going on between you and your Don?” 07Mikey said, placing his hands on his hips, “You guys were extremely awkward with each other.” 

“You really don’t know how to leave things alone, huh?” he teased, a small smile appearing.

03Mikey chuckled, “Nope, that’s what were known for.”

“Well,” he thought for a moment. “After my mother died, my real mother, Mikey and I were on the streets. We hardly had any food, clothes and sometimes had to sleep under trees. I didn’t know how to hunt then, so I had no way of feeding us.”

“One day, we scavenged for food in the bakery’s garbage cans. Soon, the owner’s wife came out and threatened to beat us and call the peacekeepers. I quickly grabbed Mikey and ran to the end of the road. When I turned around, a little turtle was watching us.”

“His mother yelled at him for burning the bread. He went outside to feed it to the pigs, but he threw it to us. The next day, Splinter and his wife found us. I thought that was a blessing in itself. And I don’t think he remembers me?” Leonardo drew his knees close to himself. 

“Hey, don’t look so downhearted, dude,” 87Mikey said, trying to cheer him up. “I’m sure he remembers ya! He’s probably waiting for a thank you or something?” Leonardo looked at him, then shook his head.

“I tried to thank him one time,” he grabbed the pillow and hugged it. “I shot a squirrel and traded it with the baker, and he was decorating a cake.” Leonardo could still remember what happened. 

Leonardo had shot down a fresh squirrel, he wanted to see if he could get a delicious pastry he would see in the display window. He talked a little with the baker and he agreed, but he only got a small cake. Big enough to cut only three pieces. While he waited, he saw a familiar turtle. It was the one who feed him and his brother! He was putting flowers on a cake. 

The turtle stopped, because he felt like someone was watching him. He looked up and meet Leonardo’s eyes. The air between them was tense. It was like electricity was in the air. The turtle dropped his eyes first and continued with his cake. 

“I just couldn’t find the words,” Leonardo sighed. “I just…couldn’t thank him. He saved our lives. I’m forever in his debt.” Leonardo hugged the pillow tighter. 

“Sure you can,” 07Don comforted him, patting his shell. “Maybe you guys can train together?” 

Leonardo shook his hand off and shot up off the bed. “No way. I don’t trust him.”

“Why not?” 03Raph asked, slightly ticked that he wouldn’t trust Donatello.

“Who knows? Maybe he will use my trust in the games? He was always a bright turtle, he would create stuff and he’s strong.” Leonardo explained, his voice rising a little. Suddenly, a knock came at the door.

Leonardo opened it. “Everything alright?” April asked, her robe untied and showing a green nightgown underneath. 

“Yes, everything’s fine, why?” He asked. 

“I thought you were yelling at someone?” She looked around the room, finding it empty. Leonardo looked over his shoulder, the turtles stood stunned, looking at the fox woman. 

“No one is obviously here, so you can go back to bed now.” He shooed her off. She flicked her tail and scoffed. “Well I just thought you might be interested to know, that the showing of this year’s tributes is coming on in a minute. I figured you and Donatello should watch it to see who you are up against.”

Leonardo nodded. She started walking down the hall. “Never in my life have I had such rude tributes. I hope I get a different district next year.” She seethed under her breath. She walked down the cart and went back to her room. Leonardo sighed a breath of relief. 

He turned back into his room and locked the door. “That was close,” he fell onto his bed, the others moving so he can rest. “We should watch the video.” He picked up the remote from the nightstand and turned on the TV hanging on the wall. 

Everyone sat down and watched with him. “Welcome, ladies and gentlemen to the 74th Annual Hunger Games!” The robot on the screen said. “My name is Fugitoid-“the turtles gasped, Leonardo left confused-“and I’m here to tell you about the tributes selected for this year’s Hunger Games!” 

While the anthem was playing, Leonardo used this moment to ask the turtles, “Why’d you gasp? Do you know him?”

“Yeah, he helped us escape the annihilation of earth from the Triceratons.” 12Don told him.

“He helped us escape Triceraton prison.” 03Don told his counterpart. He paused. “Wait, did you say the annihilation of earth?” He asked. “That’s for another time.” 12Don said, turning his attention to the screen when the anthem was finished. 

“From District 1; Tokkar-“a picture on the left side showed a mutant Dog, waving his arms and cheering. “-and Rahzar!” On the right, a picture of another turtle was cheering too. 

“Why are they so happy?” 12Mikey asked. 

“District 1 is always known for getting trained for the games, so if your picked you’re a hero. The same way with District 2.” Leonardo explained. The pictures disappeared. 

“District 2; Slash and Karai!” Two pictures of another turtle showed and a mutant snake was cheering and waving to the crowd. 

“Karai is a snake!” “Karai is a snake in this world!” The 03Leo and 12Leo looked at each other. “Your Karai is a mutated snake?” 

“Yes and she’s also our masters daughter. The shredder took her for revenge.” 12Leo explained to his older counterpart. 

“District 3-“The Fugitoid continued till he got to District 12. 

“Now District 12, Leonardo and Donatello!” They showed Leonardo running to his brother and going onto the stage. Leonardo could see he didn’t show much emotion. 

“I’m very shocked as well as you, we never had a volunteer tribute in District 12. He is one to watch out for in the games. All I can say to the tributes is, good luck and may the odds be ever in your favor!” The program ended. Leonardo turned it off. 

“Well, I guess we can go to sleep. I don’t know where you guys will sleep?” Leonardo said, looking at the turtles. 

“Don’t worry about us,” 07Leo said. “You need the sleep, we can sleep on the floor.” The Mikey’s complained and groaned. They stopped when the Raph’s slapped their heads. 

“OW!” They shouted simultaneously. 

“Good night, guys.” Leonardo chuckled softly. A few ‘nights’ and a grunt was all he heard before he fell asleep. 

The next day, Leonardo woke up and saw he was alone. ‘Maybe they returned to their world?’ Leonardo rolled over and saw the trees go by. 

“I also thought I dreamt about the games,” he said aloud. He heard a knock on his door. He got off the bed, with a groan and went to answer it. When he opened it, he saw the Mikey’s. Each gave a smile and waved. One had a biscuit in his hand. 

“We were going to wake you up-“12Mikey started. 

“But, you were asleep so we decided to eat before everyone else got up.”03Mikey finished, stuffing the rest of the biscuit in his mouth. 

Leonardo felt his stomach rumble. It was so hard to find food in District 12….he could get used to eating the food. He nodded and followed them to the dinning cart. The others already ate and sat at different tables. Each set was in a conversation with their counterparts. 

The Leonardo’s were talking about their training, Donatello’s talking about inventions, and Raph’s talking about their brothers. “Guess who finally woke up!” 07Mikey shouted. Everyone stopped their conversations and gave him ‘good morning.’ 

“Good morning to you, too.” Leonardo said. He picked up a plate and started pilling food upon food of eggs, bacon, biscuits, and weird blue things and a glass of orange juice. He sat down at the table near the door and scarfed down his food. 

“Take it easy, there’s more to go around.” 03Raph told him, worried that he might choke.

“It’s hard to get food, especially in 12. You saw the houses. We are also known as the poor district. After the mine explosion, no one is able to have food.” He continued, using his biscuit to soak up the grease. 

“Speaking of mine explosions, you never told us about your real parents. All we know is that you guys are adopted.” 87Don said, sitting backwards in his chair. 

“You guys…it’s still a sore subject sometimes. Mikey has nightmares about it still.” He finished his cup and wiped his hands. 

“Oh come on, please, pretty please!” 03Mikey begged, clasping his hands together. 

“No,” he growled. He immediately apologized. “Sorry, but no. I still expect them to come get us, get Mikey away from Splinter, but not that’s going to happen.” He let his head hang. The cart was filled with silence, the air so thick you couldn’t cut it with a knife.   
The car door opened. April, Don and Casey, who was dressed normally, but wore sunglasses, gathered food and joined Leonardo at the table. The turtles moved out of the way. “You’d freeze to death.” 

“What if I light a fire?” Donatello asked, taking a bit of eggs. 

“That’s a good way to get yourself killed.” Leonardo was already lost. “What’s a good way to get yourself killed?” He asked, drawling Casey’s attention to him. 

“You’re up early.” Casey said, cutting up his sausage, then grabbed a glass and poured himself a cup of coffee. “I was just giving some lifesaving advice.” He took a bite of sausage. Leonardo wanted to join in on the conversation. “Like what?” He asked while he fiddled around with his napkin. 

“I was just asking about how to find shelter when I meet him in the hallway.” Donatello told him, trying to ignore the look Leonardo gave him. He lowered his eyes, continuing to eat. 

“Which would come in handy if you’re still alive.” Casey muttered, buttering his toast. Leonardo felt his patience growing thin with the mutant salamander. “How do you find shelter?” he asked. 

“Pass the jam.” he asked, not answering Leonardo’s question.

“How DO you find shelter.” He asked again, emphasizing his words. Casey clenched his silver ware and growled, “Give me a chance to wake up, sweetheart.” He drawled out, Leonardo felt himself growing hot. He reached into his pocket and grabbed a flask and added alcohol to his coffee. 

“This mentoring thing is taxing stuff.” Donatello glanced nervously at Leonardo, seeing he ripped his napkin. When Casey reached for the jam, Leonardo grabbed the knife and stuck it into Casey’s sleeve. They glared at each other. April gasped. “That was mahogany!” 

The turtles were shocked. “Dude, did he wake up on the wrong side of bed this morning.” They saw Leonardo’s eyes flicker to glare in their direction quickly and back to Casey. “Well, we did ask him to talk about his parents.” 87Don explained. 

“Look at you, just killed my sleeve.” He used his other hand to pull the knife out. “You really want to know how to stay alive? You get people to like you.” He spat out, spreading jam on his toast with the knife that almost sliced him. 

“When you’re in the middle of the games, and you’re starving or freezing, some water, a knife or even some matches can mean the difference between life and death. Those things only come from sponsors and to get sponsors, you have to get people to like you.” He put down the knife. “And right now, you’re not off to a good start.” He took a bit of his toast.   
Suddenly Donatello jumped up, “There it is.” 

The turtles turned and saw the train approaching a big city. It was surrounded by high mountains and the buildings were made of steel. They went through a tunnel and came out to see aliens and mutants dressed in extremely bright colors and extravagant clothes. They cheered as the train was slowly passing by. 

“Leonardo was right,”03Leo whispered to the turtles. “They do treat them like celebrities.” They turned and saw Donatello smiling and waving. Casey turned toward Leonardo. 

“Better keep this knife,” he handed the knife to Leonardo. “He knows what he’s doing.” He went back to finishing he toast. Leonardo looked at Donatello waving and sighed. ‘What have I gotten myself into?’ he asked himself.


	5. Chapter 5

As soon as the train pulled in, Leonardo and Donatello were escorted to the Cleaning Room. “Should we follow?” asked 03Raph. “No, let’s wait, maybe they will come back out. Besides, it looks real crowded in there. I don’t think they want to be knocked over by thin air.” 

“Or we can go out and look at the horses!” 12Mikey yelled, excited to see horses. They were being hooked up to chariots. “They have chariot races? COOL!” He jumped in the air and ran toward the nearest horse. His brothers running after him. “Mikey!” they yelled. 

“Man, you guys thought we were bad.” 87Raph teased his other counterpart. They walked toward the horse where the younger versions were at.

*In the Cleaning Room*

Leonardo was lead to a room with a shower and a metal table in the middle. Donatello was lead to the one next to him. He didn’t wait long, four blue aliens-all female- walked in and started working on him. They scrubbed his shell, even the crevices of the shell. They took off his kimono and shoved him into the shower. 

One alien, she was shorter than the rest, spoke in a dialect he didn’t understand. “You want me to shower?” He asked, gesturing to the shower head. She nodded. She shut the door and Leonardo was soon sprayed by warm water. 

He grabbed the soap and cleaned the rest of his body. Soon, the water was turned off and he was gestured out of the shower. He put on a white robe and tied it. They circled him, each one looking him up and down. Occasionally, they would wipe something, but they didn’t do anything else. 

They left. One stayed behind, she spoke English. “You will wait here. Your stylist will be here shortly.” She closed the door. Leonardo sat down, picking at the robe strings. He wondered what the stylist will do this year. He remembered when two aliens were fully naked and covered in soot. He shuddered. 

The door opened. A mutant mongoose came through the door. She had gold highlighting her eyes and her dress was simply black. Her fur was nicely combed and flat, but looked smooth. She nodded at him and closed the door.

“I have to say, what you did in the Reaping, which was the bravest thing I have ever seen.” She smiled at him, shaking his outstretched hand. “Hi, I’m Irma.”

“Leonardo.” He shook her hand. Nice firm grip. 

“I’m sorry that this has happened to you,” she gestured to the room. “But I’m here to help you in any way I can.” She smiled at him, folding her hands in front of her. Leonardo huffed. 

“Most people congratulate me.” He said, crossing his arms, feeling self-conscious of her staring. She looked him up and down. “I don’t see the point in it, I was just trying to protect my brother.” Leonardo said, trying to not sound like he enjoyed it. 

She ignored him. “Hmmm…so tonight…” she walked around him. She spread his arms out and looked at him more closely. “Is the Tribute Parade. Let me do my work and the people will definitely remember you.” 

“So you’re here to help me look pretty?” He asked, his voice full of sarcasm. 

“I’m here to help you make an impression. So you can get more sponsors.” She let his arms down. She sighed and clapped her hands. “So…our job, is to dress our tributes where they came from. You know what District 12 represents?” 

“Yeah. Coal.” He said, like it was the most obvious answer. 

“Yeah, but I don’t want to do that. What does coal make?” She asked. She smiled when Leonardo answered with, “Fire.”

“Exactly,” she shouted, excited. Leonardo wondered if she was crazy. “Fire! You are not going to be the dirty scum from District 12. You are going to shine like a jewel.”

Leonardo slowly nodded, his eyes wide. She grabbed the either side of his face and brought him close to hers. “You have to trust me on this.” She stated, looking into his eyes. He nodded. 

“I trust you.” She smiled. 

Leonardo found himself in a black body suit. It even covered up his shell. He got a good look at himself in the mirror. Irma was patting down wrinkles, she was smiling so hard he thought her face was going to split in two. “Just like I imagined. You know I wanted this District?” 

Leonardo turned and looked at her, surprise written on his face. “You do?” He asked, now he was convinced she was crazy. 

“I always found the Coal district a little exciting. Now, I have a reason to love it.” She said, smiling softly at him. He smiled back. He is starting to like his crazy stylist. 

“Don’t worry, Donatello is in the same one. His stylist, Vernon and I have been working on something special. And by the way,” she held out several different color of what looked like to be spray paint cans. “What’s your favorite color?” 

He just looked at her. 

*With the turtles*

“Dude, I’m starting to like this place.” 03Mikey exclaimed. His young counterpart was petting the horse. He looked around at the tributes dressed in different costumes. One was completely made out of tin foil. 

“Why?” 03Raph asked him, he had a frown on his face as he looked at the others. He narrowed his eyes at the small group of four already gathered in a corner near the front. The giant turtle was talking to the dog mutant. The snake was leaning against the body of the second chariot listening. The other turtle with spikes on its shell was already in the first chariot. 

“Cause, they get to do a race in awesome costumes! Why don’t we get to do it? I want to dress up!” He exclaimed. The turtles grimacing at the high volume of his voice. 

“For very important reasons. One, people can’t see us. Two, costumes floating in midair. And three, there are only twelve chariots.” 03Don pointed out to his simple brother. 03Mikey frowned and groaned. 

“Man, this stinks. Why are we trapped in this universe, when we should be back in ours and trying to stop Shredder?” 03Raph growled, leaning on the chariot. 

“We’re still trying to figure that out, keep your shell on.” 87Don said, he also petted the horse and stepped back when it neighed. 

“Can’t leave you guys alone and already messed with someone.” A voice said from behind them. They turned and saw Leonardo, dressed in a full black body suit. He had a blue bandana on. 

“Wow, you look great.” 03Leo complimented. Leonardo blushed. “Thanks.” He said, bashfully. He turned and saw Irma, Donatello-also dressed like him, but had a purple bandana on-and what Leonardo assumes to be Vernon, Donatello’s designer.

“Okay, you picked blue and Donatello picked purple. Now, we won’t lit you up just yet. As soon as District eleven’s chariot is gone, we will set you on fire.” Irma explained, with a smile on her face. 

The turtles were shocked, even Leonardo and Donatello.

“Umm…did she just say…lit up?” 12Mikey asked nervously. 

“And on fire?” 87Raph quivered. 

“You’re going to set us on fire?” Donatello yelled, being dramatic. The other tributes turned and looked at them. He smiled at them nervously. He face palmed. “Great Donatello, embarrass yourself.” He muttered harshly to himself. 

“Don’t worry, we tested this, you guys are completely safe.” Irma explained, giving Donatello a comforting smile. “Besides, you guys will rock!” She jumped, estatic. They nodded. Soon, they heard the music playing. “Oh, that’s your cue, get on the chariot guys.” Irma instructed. 

“What are we supposed to do?” 07Don asked. Leonardo looked over at Donatello, he was too busy talking to their stylists. He glanced around the room and saw a screen on the wall near the exit. “See the screen?” He whispered, pointing to the exit. “That’s what you’re going to watch us on.” 

“Good luck with the race, dude!”87Mikey exclaimed, giving him a thumbs up. Leonardo was confused.

“Chariot race?” He gave a little chuckle, “No, you guys have it all wrong. It’s the Tribute Parade. They have these to show the tributes to the Capitol and it’s also a way to get sponsors.” Leonardo explained, the confusion setting in on the Mikey’s faces. “Never mind.” He sighed. 

The doors opened and the chariots were heading out one at a time. “See you guys later.” He quickly whispered. As soon as District eleven’s chariot started moving, Irma and Vernon lit them on fire. 

“What an exciting day! Over one hundred people, craning to get a glimpse of this year’s tributes!” Fugitoid spoke into the microphone. Excitement in his voice. His co-host, a mutant rhino named Rocksteady, was also there. 

“Check it out dudes, it’s Rocksteady!”87Mikey pointed out. 

“If Rocksteady is here, Bebop is surely here too.” 87Leo said. They continued watching.

“And sponsors get to see the Tributes as well. The importance of this moment cannot be wasted.” Rocksteady implied. The turtles were shocked. 

“Rocksteady, sounding smart?”87Don said, speechless.

“And using big words? That’s it, the world is over with.”87Raph sighed. 

“Shhh, they chariots are out.” 12Don exclaimed. The first chariot appeared on the screen. 

“Here they are, this year’s Tributes!” The crowd cheered. Heads were turning and the applause kept getting louder as they saw their favorite tribute. 

“Don’t you love how the stylist are able to reflect the character of each district?” Fugitoid asked his co-host. Rocksteady nodded. “I certainly do. Look there’s District 4, fishing.” He pointed out. The camera zoomed on the fourth chariot. 

They saw a mutant Sting Ray and an alien Salamander, dressed in fishing nets, waving to the crowd. “I like it.” Fugitoid said. “And behind them we have two power plant workers.” He stated. The camera shifted to the chariot behind them. 

A mutant fox and a mutant hawk was waving. They wore silver dresses and wore dome head pieces. The turtles grimaced. “Those poor mutants.” 07Raph said, laughing slightly at the pathetic costumes. 

“Where is Leonardo and Donatello?” 12Mikey asked, squinting and getting close to the screen. He squeaked when his Raph pulled him back, slapping the back of his head. “Ow!” He screeched. 12Raph laughed. 

“What’s that in the background?” They heard Rocksteady ask. They looked at the screen and gasped in awe. Leonardo was completely covered in blue flames. Even his tails on his bandana was on fire. Donatello was the same, except his was purple. 

“Holy. Shell.” 03Raph gasped. 

The cheering got louder. 

Leonardo almost fell from the noise and applause from the audience. He looked around. The stands were filled with people and everyone was following him and Donatello. They didn’t even care about the other tributes, just them. He felt a hand brush his. He pulled his hand away and glared at Donatello. 

“Come on, they’ll love it.” He said, holding his hand out for Leonardo to take. Leonardo hesitated. Wondering if he should trust this guy, but he gave in and took hold of the outstretched hand. Donatello lifted their hands above their heads. 

“Now see that? I love that. Two young people, holding their hands up! Saying, "I'm proud, I'm from District 12! We will not be overlooked!" Rocksteady cheered along with the crowd. He was practically jumping in his seat. 

“We definitely going to pay attention to them now.” Fugitoid said, Rocksteady agreeing with him. The chariots stopped below a balcony, gathering in a line. The fire of Leonardo and Donatello’s costumes went out. A figure came walking out onto the balcony, coming to speak into the microphone. 

He was a purple alien, 4-armes and dressed in a red cloke with his wings hanging out the back of the cloke. He looked at all the tributes gathered. His eyes looking at each of them. His gaze lingering on the last chariot. 

“Welcome Tributes,” his deep, voice spoke into the microphone. It made Leonardo jump a bit. “We welcome you. We salute you for your courage and sacrifice. And I wish you Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor.” He finished his speech and the chariots were lead back to where they started. 

“That. Was. AMAZING!” 12Mikey screeched, his eyes wide as he saw Leonardo hop off the chariot and walk toward the stylist. Casey and April entered the room, each avoiding the glances and glares of certain tributes. 

“That was spectacular.” Irma praised them. 

“Anybody who is anybody is going to be talking about this.” She said to Irma enjoying the other woman’s enthusiasm. 

“We should head to where we’re staying.” Casey said, bringing the attention of their small group. He moved his eyes over to the glaring tributes of District 1 and 2. Leonardo gave a small nod and motioned the turtles to follow. The elevator was big, so big that they all fit in it. 

Leonardo made sure to be toward the back to keep the others from bumping into the turtles. “Each of the districts get their own floor. Since you are 12, you get the penthouse.” April explained. The elevator dinged and when the doors opened Leonardo gasped.


	6. Chapter 6

They walked out of the elevator. Leonardo was amazed. The room was huge, a giant chandelier hang over a long table that had plates and food set up. It had green curtains and a sofa so big it hugged a table in the middle. He made it further into the room and went down the hallway. He peeked into a room and saw a bed made, the covers a dark blue and a big window showed the Capitol. 

He walked back to the living room. “Leonardo, why don’t you show Donatello to his room. I suggest you guys wash up before dinner. We’ll talk more.” Leonardo nodded and walked down the hallway. Donatello following, along with the turtles. 

“I found mine, so I’m assuming one of these,” he pointed to the room beside and across from his. He opened the one beside him and saw a room like his, except the covers were purple. “Found it.” Leonardo said, moving out of the way for Donatello to enter. 

“Thanks, Leo.” Donatello said, smiling at him and walking in. Leonardo gave a small smile and walked into his room. His smile gone. “I don’t see how you don’t trust him?” 03Raph asked, leaning against the wall. 

“I told you before, he might use his niceness to his advantage and try to kill me.” Leonardo explained, throwing his arms in the air and walking toward an adjacent room that held a shower. 

“That’s your excuse? What he going to do? Kill you with cake?” 03Raph exclaimed, approaching Leonardo and spinning him around to face him slamming him against the door. Leonardo grunted when he was pushed against the bathroom door. He growled. 

“It doesn’t matter! And what concern is it to you?” Leonardo snapped, pushing 03Raph away. 

“I don’t want to see either of you kill each other by your own hands!” He hollered, his eyes a little watery. “It’s bad enough Mikey got called and you took his place, but you have to kill Don just to go home. It’s not fair!” He punched the wall, making a hole. 

Leonardo’s gaze softened a little, he put a comforting hand on 03Raph’s shoulder. “I get you guys are stressed. You don’t know how you got here or the fact that only I can see you. But you will never figure it out unless you guys calm down and figure this out together.” He told them. 

“Now, while I’m in the shower, you guys talk.” He gave a pointed glare at each of the Don’s. “And don’t ask about me and Donatello or what we’re going to do in the games.” He said, and slammed the bathroom door. 

They all looked at each other. It was silent. 

“Does any of our smart brainiac’s have any ideas?” 03Mikey asked. He was slightly shaken at the confrontation between his brother and Leonardo. 

03Don rubbed his chin, deep in thought. “Did anybody else feel a tingling sensation when we got ‘deleted’” he quoted the word. The two sets of turtles looked at each other. “Someone obviously got control of the control room and did something.”

“I can understand about our situation,” 07Don motioned to his brothers and the younger set. “Coming from moments in our dimension where we had to deal with time and portals. Did this universe ever appear in the slide show?” He looked toward them.

They shook heads. “Now that you mention it,” 03Leo said. “I didn’t even see this world.”

“Maybe the turtles in this universe are not a team, but separate people….” 87Don trailed off. 

“They weren’t recognized as part of the turtle universe!” 03Don exclaimed. 

“Make sense to me.” 87Raph commented, crossing his arms. 

The bathroom door opened and Leonardo came out. Wrapped in a towel and not wearing his mask. “So did you guys make a break through?” He asked, walking toward the closet. He opened it and saw kimono after kimono of different colors. He choose one that was orange. 

“We think someone got control of the control room and stopped the Shredder from deleting us, but we don’t know exactly who?” 03Don explained. Leonardo tied his kimono and wipped his face. 

“Is that so?” He said plainly. “I’m glad you guys figured out how you got here, now work on how you’re going to get out.” Leonardo threw the towel in the basket. “I don’t want you guys stuck here for the games.” He said, sitting on the bed. 

“Me too.” 12Leo sighed. Everyone had a moment of silence. 

A knock at the door. Leonardo tensed up, he relaxed slightly when he saw it was Donatello. “Hey, we’re waiting for you.” He noticed the hole in the wall. “What did you do to the wall? Or what did it do to you?” He teased. Leonardo looked at the hole, then back at Donatello. 

“I got….a little mad….and I took it out on the wall.” He said, rubbing the back of his head at his lame excuse. Donatello nodded, but didn’t look like he bought it. 

“Riiiight,” he drawled out, sounding concerned and a little skeptic. “Well, dinner’s ready and Casey wants to talk to us.” He said and walked away. 

“Well, I’ll see you guys later. And if I can I’ll sneak you guys a plate.” Leonardo instructed and left. 

“If you only bring pizza.” 87Mikey said, looking at the floor in a pout.

A few minutes later, Leonardo came back, with a large plate filled with weird food. “Sorry, this is all I can grab without looking suspicious. He put the plate on the nightstand and they each grabbed one. 

“Thanks.” 12Don said. 

The fruit was downed and they continued talking. “So…what happens tomorrow?” 07Leo asked. 

“We get to train for three days, then on the third day we have a private session with the gamemakers and they score us on how we do.” He explained, getting ready for bed. 

“Gamemakers? You mean people make the games? I thought you got dropped off in the middle of nowhere.” 87Leo exclaimed. 

“No, the capitol puts us in an arena with an environment. One year, they had the frozen artic, and the tributes were freezing to death.” Leonardo said, pulling back the covers. 

“….that’s messed up.” 03Raph growled. 

“That’s what we get for having a rebellion, punishment is watching your family die and there’s nothing you can do about it.” Leonardo sighed, closing his eyes. He opened them and looked at the turtles, each with a sad look. 

“I need to get some sleep for tomorrow. Good night guys.” Leonardo shut the lamp off and turned over, facing the wall. 

“Goodnight.” They said. Soon, each turtle fell asleep, hopping they get home soon.


	7. Chapter 7

Leonardo woke up with the sun shining in his face. “Got to go catch breakfast.” He grunted, stretching on his bed. He paused. Since when has his bed been so soft? And since when has his wall been replaced with glass. He groaned. Placing his arm across his eyes. 

“That’s right.” He moaned. He finally got up and noticed the turtles where gone. “Guys?” He looked in the bathroom and saw no one, but the towels on the floor suggested otherwise. “At least I know they clean after themselves.” Leonardo said sarcastically. 

He picked up the towels and got in the shower. He did his usually morning routine and walked out into the living room. He saw Donatello eating eggs, bacon, and hash browns. A glass of orange juice that looked like he hadn’t drank out of it yet. 

“Hey,” he greeted Donatello. He sat down across from him and gathered as much food as he wanted. Donatello looked up from his food in surprise. “Hey, uh…good morning.” Donatello stuttered. 

“What?” Leonardo asked. He paused in his eating, looking at Donatello like he did something wrong. 

“Nothing, nothing, it’s just this is the first time you spoke to me in a friendly matter.” Donatello chuckled lightly, still not looking Leonardo in the eye. Leonardo looked down at his plate, “I guess you’re right.” He muttered. 

They continued eating in silence and was soon joined by Casey and April. They sat down and ate for a bit and then Casey put down his silver ware. “So, you know that training begins today. I just want to know if you guys want to train separate or together.” He took a bit of toast and looked at the two tributes. 

They looked at each other. 

“Train together.” They said at the same time, each looking at each other in shock. 

“Okay,” Casey sighed, taking a drink of his coffee. “I want to know you’re strengths. To see what I’m working with here.” He folded his hands and waited for them to answer.

“Leonardo is good with a bow. My father buys his squirrels. He says he gets them in the eye every time.” Donatello told Casey. His voice had a little praise in it, like Donatello was fascinated that he did what he could do to feed his family. 

“I’m good, but Donatello is strong.” Leonardo pointed out, staring Donatello in the eye. 

“What?” Casey asked, he looked shocked that Donatello is strong.   
“I’ve seen him lift flour bags over his head.” Leonardo told Casey, glancing at Donatello and smirking. Donatello was turning red, but not from the complement. 

“Sure, like they’re going to have sacks of flour in the arena for me to chuck at people.” Donatello snapped, his green skin having the red tent in his cheeks. 

“I’m saying that you have a better chance at winning.” Leonardo snapped back, sick of the attitude Donatello is having. “You can defend yourself if someone comes after you with a knife.” 

“I have no chance of winning!” Donatello shouted. Leonardo and the others jumped and reeled back from his outburst. “Before I left, my mom said “we might have a winner from District 12 this year.” But I knew she was talking about you. I’m done eating.” Donatello pushed his chair back hard and stormed to his room. 

Leonardo felt guilty. He wasn’t surprised that Donatello’s mom said that. She is hateful to her kids. “Me too.” Leonardo said quickly and hurried to his room. He opened his door and shut it behind him. He leaned against it and closed his eyes, covering his face with his hands. 

“Hey,” Leonardo jumped. The turtles stood there. “Where’d you guys go?” He asked, his hand covering his heart and trying to calm down from the heart attack. 

“We were on the roof and walking around a bit. We ate before we left.” 87Leo explained. 

Leonardo then noticed the training outfit on the bed. Knee pads, elbow pads and foot wear for his feet and arm bands with the number 12 on it to show what district he’s from. He quickly put the stuff on and explained that they will be training together. “If that’s okay with you?” he asked sarcastically to 03Raph, who narrowed his eyes, but nodded. He wasn’t going to mention what else happened. 

“You guys staying?” He asked, as he finished putting the arm bands on last. It was blue. “No, will stay here, you just finish training today and we’ll see you after.” 07Leo said, the turtles following Leonardo out of the room. He nodded and walked to the elevator where Casey and Donatello- who wore purple arm bands- stood waiting for him. 

The elevator closed. 

April sat down on the big couch and turned on the holo-tv. “So, like, what do we do now?” 87Mikey asked his fellow turtles. “I suggest watching whatever she’s watching, it’s not like we got much to do.”

“Maybe we can scope out the city a while later?” He asked. 

“We’ll see.” 87Leo told his brother and the turtles gathered around the unsuspecting April as she watched TV.

*In the elevator* 

“Don’t show off your skills in training. Save your best for your private sessions with the gamemakers.” He instructed, facing the two mutant turtles. Donatello and Leonardo nodded, Donatello not making eye contact with Leonardo. Leonardo kept looking at Donatello from the corner of his eye. 

“Any questions?” Not one question was asked. Casey whistled. “Tough crowd.” The elevator binged and the turtles got out. They didn’t pay attention to the other tributes as they gasped at the training area. 

An underground gymnasium filled with training stations and obstacle courses is where the tributes prepare and practice for the challenges in the arena. The training stations spaced throughout the center are based on different skills that may be useful in the arena, which includes knot tying, identifying edible plants and insects, camouflage, and practicing with weapons. Experts are placed at each station to instruct and serve as training partners. 

“Gather around tributes.” A tall, skinny alien with a long neck, green cat like eyes and a training outfit was standing in the middle of the room. Leonardo and Donatello joined up with them. “In two weeks, 23 of you will be dead. One of you will be alive. That depends.” She said, looking at each one of the tributes.

“No fighting with other tributes. You’ll have plenty of time for that in the arena.” A tribute with the number 5 raised her hand. “What advise can you give to us?”

The woman thought on this, then spoke: “My advice is don’t ignore the survival skills. Everybody wants to grab a sword but most of you will die from natural causes. Exposure can kill just as easily as a knife can. Anymore questions?” She asked, no one raised their hands. She made a motion with her hand and the tributes split up to a training station. 

Leonardo made his way to the knotting station. Raphael made snares and was usually good at them, but he wasn’t here. It was just him. He started tying his first knot when he heard a commotion from across the room. 

“Did you take my knife?” the giant turtle, Slash, asked the same girl from District 5. She had purple markings around her eyes and she had white fur. She was dressed like the others and a place cut off for her fox tail. 

“I didn’t touch it.” She seethed, getting close to Slash, nearly in his face. Leonardo felt scared for her, Slash was ten times bigger than her. An expert stepped in before anything could happen. “That’s enough. Settle this in the arena.” He pushed Slash away from her.   
“You’re the first one I’ll get in the arena.” He threatened and headed back to his group of friends. He felt eyes on him and he looked up. He couldn’t resist a smile as he saw the rabbit from District 11 clutching a knife in his paws. He shook his head at the antics and went back to tying his knot. Still smiling. 

At the end of the training session, Leonardo and Donatello went back to the penthouse where they saw Casey passed out drunk and April looking annoyed. He was leaning on her and drooling. “Can you please get him off? He’s ruining my new outfit!” She shrieked quietly at the two turtles. 

Leonardo saw the turtles laughing and holding chuckles, except for the turtles with the initials on their belts, who were laughing out loud. Leonardo shrugged at Donatello, “You helped me last time. I think it’s your turn.” Leonardo chuckled. Donatello smirked, the tension from earlier this morning was gone. 

“Uh, if I remember this correctly, you helped me and I got stuck with the feet. You get his feet and I’ll get by the arms.” Donatello reminded Leonardo, smiling at Leonardo’s shocked face. Leonardo shrugged, “Fair.” They got to work and put Casey in his room. 

“Well, how did training go?” April asked when they got back, she was smoothing out the wrinkles Casey left behind on her sleeve. 

“Great,” Leonardo said, sitting on the couch.

“Well, dinner should be arriving soon, and after that I suggest we get a good night’s sleep.” April suggested and they watched the holo-tv. 

*The next day*

Leonardo was waiting in line for the monkey bars. He was second in line after the mutant tiger from District 9, and Donatello was trying to cross. He slipped on the fifth bar and the careers from across the room laughed. 

Donatello picked himself up and walked over to a bench and sat down. Leonardo got out of line and sat next to Donatello. “You see that metal thing over there?” He pointed toward a big metal ball with a handle. Donatello followed the finger, “Yeah.” He looked back at Leonardo confused. 

“Throw it.” 

“But Casey says were not supposed to show our…” Leonardo cut him off with a glare. “I don’t care what Casey says. Those guys are looking at you like a meal.” He jerked his head to the four careers packed together laughing and smirking, sometimes looking toward the two turtles on the bench.   
“Throw it.” He told Donatello in a commanding voice. Donatello, shakily, got to his feet and walked over to the metal ball. He grabbed it by the handle and hesitated, looking over at Leonardo, who gave him an encouraging smile. He picked it up, his arm straining from the weight and with all his might threw it at one of the practice dummies. It fell to the floor with a big bang, the careers stepped back and smiles gone when they saw the head was taken off. 

After the show, Leonardo went to the station and learned how to make a fire. It was a little while later that he noticed Donatello hadn’t moved from one specific station. He walked up to him. 

“Hi.” He said softly, so not to make Donatello jump. Donatello looked up from what he was doing, “Hey.” He greeted, his smile showing he had a tooth missing. Leonardo looked down at Donatello’s arm and noticed the design, “How’d you do that?” He asked, looking amazed at the browns and greys combining together. 

“I uh…” He put down the paint brush, wiping his forehead. “I used to do the cake designs at the bakery.” He said, trying to make it sound cool. Leonardo gave a soft smile. Donatello, smiled back and turned to a tree and placed his arm on it. The colors were the exact copy of the tree. 

“Wow!” Leonardo said, smiling at Donatello’s job well done. Donatello saw a blur of white quickly hid behind the pillar. He recognized that color. The rabbit from eleven would follow Leonardo, he noticed the other day while Leonardo was tying knots. He thought it was sweet. 

“It looks like you have a shadow.” Donatello said, jerking his head to the pillar behind Leonardo. He turned and saw rabbit ears poking out and brown eyes looking at him. He waved, but the rabbit walked off, not waving back. 

After training they went back to the penthouse to have dinner. At the dinner table Casey started telling them about the individual sessions. “Tomorrow, they will bring you in one by one and evaluate you. This is important,” he looked at Leonardo as he said that. “Because high ratings will mean Sponsors. This is the time to show them everything. There’ll be a bow, make sure to use it.” He instructed to Leonardo.

“Donatello,” he looked at the other turtle. “You make sure to show your strength.” Donatello nodded, giving Casey a thumbs up. “They’ll start with District 1 so the two of you will go last. Not on my house to put this…” Casey said, chuckling and taking a sip of alcohol. “Make sure they remember you.” He said, his eyes holding their gazes. 

“Time to hit the hay,” Casey said, and chugged the rest down. Leonardo pretended to finish eating while everyone else went to their rooms to get ready for bed. He grabbed fruit and carried it to his room. The turtles waiting for him there. 

“Are you ready for tomorrow?” 03Raph asked, grabbing an apple and taking a bite. Leonardo nodded.   
“Yep,” he said, placing the fruit on his nightstand. “I’m just a little nervous. What if I get a bad score and no one likes me?” He asked, wringing his hands together. He flopped on his bed, resting an arm over his face. His arm was pulled off his face and he saw 07Leo. 

“You’ll do fine, besides when you’re done we’ll be right here.” He comforted.

“Question, how do they score you?” 12Raph asked, sitting on the edge of the bed. 

“They call us in one at a time, starting with District 1 and ending with District 12. We have fifteen minutes to show off our skills. They score us on a scale of one to eleven, one being the worst and eleven the best. The Careers generally score between eight and ten.” Leonardo explained. 

“That’s because they train before entering, right?” 03Mikey asked. Leonardo nodded. “They are more liked among the Capitol so they get more luxury than us.” He told them. He took off all his gear and showered while they were still eating. After drying himself off, he got dressed and ready for bed. He went to sleep with his stomach turning. 

“Hamato Leonardo. District 12.” Leonardo jumped when his name called. He was so deep in thought, sitting slouched and wringing his hands when he heard his name and district called. He got up, wiping his sweaty hands on his legs. 

“Shoot straight.” Donatello told him. Leonardo looked back at him and nodded. Walking into a room with weapons of every kind and the stations already cleaned up and ready for the next tribute. He in the middle of the room. He looked up where the gamemakers where. Some looked bored and some were eating at the pig that showed up. He cleared his throat, which got their attention. 

“Hamato Leonardo. District 12.” He yelled up at them. Leonardo looked at the weapon rack, there was a bow and four arrows. He ran his hand down the string of the bow and grasped an arrow and took the bow of the rack. He walked over to one of the dummies and took a few steps back. He drew back the arrow and released, missing the target. He heard the gamemakers laughing. He turned around and got another arrow. He took careful aim and released and hit the dummy directly in the chest. He smiled. He looked up at the gamemakers. They didn’t even noticed him, they were too busy with the pig. 

He was flaming. He took another arrow and shot at the gamemakers. Skewing the apple and lodging the arrow, with the apple, into the wall. They turned around and looked at him, shock on all their faces. “Thank you for your consideration.” He said, sarcastically and bowed and slammed the bow back and stormed out, not caring about his score anymore.


	8. Chapter 8

Leonardo stormed into the penthouse, furious at the gamemakers and at himself. “Leonardo, are you alright?” 07Leo asked, watching as his other self was pacing the room. April and Casey went somewhere and won’t be back til later. Leonardo was fast pacing, his hands on his head and muttering to himself.

“What have I done?” Leonardo said, shock and his voice a little shaky. 

“What did you do?” 07Raph asked, looking at how pale Leonardo was getting. His breaths were coming in short gasps now. The Don’s helped him to the couch and 12Don crouched in front of Leonardo. “I want you to calm down. If you keep doing this you’re going to pass out. Just take calm deep breaths.”

He breathed in and slowly exhaled. “Copy what I’m doing.” He told Leonardo, holding his hands down on either side of him. He kept looking in Leonardo’s eyes and did it again. Soon he got Leonardo calmed down enough that he wasn’t pale and he was completely calm again. 

“Now that you’re calmed down, explained what happened?” 12Don said, letting go of Leonardo’s hands and standing back up. The some of the turtles sat on the couch, while four of them stood up. 

“I got called to go into the room and they had a bow and arrow on a stand ready for me to use. I introduced myself, but they were more focused on the roast pig that was brought in instead of me. I knew they were bored, imagine you sitting there for hours and watching people throw stuff.” He said, he was bouncing one leg and kept his hands clasped on his plastron. 

“Anyway, I went toward the rack and got the bow and an arrow. I lined up my shot and let the arrow go, but I miss the dummy by that much.” He made his finger and thumb show the turtles by how much he missed. “I heard them laughing. So, I grabbed another arrow, I had fifteen minutes to show them, so I grabbed another and did it again. This time I hit it directly in the chest.” He explained, giving them a smile, but it soon went away and he clenched his hands tighter and narrowed his eyes. A frown on his face.

“I turned around and saw them not even paying attention. They were tearing into that pig!” He screamed, standing up and kicking the coffee table. His toe throbbing from the pain, but he didn’t pay any attention to it. 07Don grabbed him by his shoulders and sat him back down. 

“Then what happened. There’s more than you’re not telling us.” He narrowed his eyes. Leonardo sighed. He shouldn’t really tell them….”I kind of grabbed another arrow and shot the apple out of the pig’s mouth.” The turtles were gaping and eyes wide.

“I didn’t mean to do that! I just got so mad!” He quickly explained, shaking his hands. 

“That’s cool!” 87Turtles and 03Mikey exclaimed. Each giving each other a high five. The 07Mikey and 12Mikey gave each other a high five as well. The Raph’s smiled at him and 03Raph punched his shoulder, chuckling. While the Leo’s and Dons were a little concerned.

“Why are you so happy? He probably just did something that could destroy his chances at getting sponsors. It also will affect your score.” 03Leo patronized him, and that just made Leonardo madder. Getting lectured by his bigger self. 

“I know what I did! Do you think I’m stupid? Just because I didn’t go to school? I had to fend for myself, I know how to survive! How do you think Mikey is still alive?” He shouted at his counterpart. 03Leo never flinched, he stood stoic as ever, his arms crossed and a serious look on his face. Leonardo breathed hard. 

“Are you done?” 03Leo asked, raising a brow. Leonardo nodded. “Yeah,” his shoulders slumped. “I’m fine now. I’ll be in my room.” He said, walking to his room. He closed his door and slid down the door. He pulled his knees close and rested his head on his knees. 

Five minutes later, he heard a knock on his door. “Go away!” He yelled, but with his head down his voice was muffled. Suddenly the door was yanked open and he fell backwards. He fell back and grunted when he made impact with the hallway floor. He looked up and saw April mad. Her ear was twitching and her tail was swaying. She helped him up, but was quiet on the way to the living room. 

He saw the turtles standing or sitting in the dining room. He saw Donatello slouched forward and he looked up at Leonardo. He sat down next to Irma, his favorite person in the Capitol right now, and prepared for the lecturing he was about to get, again. 

“Are. You. CRAZY?” She screeched. She hit the couch cushion. 

“I just got mad!” He tried to defend himself by telling them what he had told the turtles earlier. 

“You realize your actions reflect badly on all of us.” She explained, pacing the length of the couch. She paused and glared at Leonardo. “Not just you.” She huffed and continued in her pacing. 

“They just wanted a good show, its fine.” Irma said, trying to defend Leonardo from April’s nagging. “How about just bad manners, Irma? How about that?” April snapped, she turned her fury on Irma now. Vernon just sat next to Donatello, chuckling to himself. 

They elevator doors opened and Casey walked in, almost….skipping. He had a smile on his face. April looked relieved. “Well, finally!” She exclaimed, sounded exasperated. She thought that Casey will finally take her side for once. “I hope you notice, we have a serious situation.” She asked him. He went over and patted Leonardo on the shoulder and giving him a thumbs up.

“Nice shooting!” Casey said, proud, then he started laughing. “Wha…Wha….What did they….What did they do when you shot the apple?” He said, speaking through his fit of laughter. He plopped right down beside Leonardo. 

“Well,” he said, smiling a little. “They looked pretty startled.” Leonardo told him, full on smiling. 

“What did you say…” Casey said, trying to speak through laughter. “Thanks for…” consideration. Genius!” Casey whooped, throwing his hands above his head and clapped. April was furious. 

“Genius? How do you think you’re gonna find this funny? If the gamemakers decided to take it out…” She tried to explain, but Casey’s laughter quickly died out and interrupted her. “Take it out on who? On him? On Donatello here?” He pointed to Donatello. “I think they already have. Loosen your corset and have a drink.” He joked at her. He winked at Leonardo. 

“I would have given anything to see it.” He told Leonardo, smiling at him. Leonardo nodded and glanced over his shoulder to see April fuming. He also saw the turtles smiling and 03Mikey mouthing the words ‘me too.’ 

The holo-tv was turned on and Fugitoid was shown on the screen. “As you know, today the Tributes have been rated on a scale of careful evaluation.” Fugitoid explained, holding a piece of paper in his metal fingers. “Here are their scores.” 

“District 1. Tokkar. With a score of 9.” 

“Slash, with a score of 10.”

“Karai, with a score of 10.”

He went on and on with the scores. Leonardo was glad to see the white rabbit who was named Usagi got a 7. “From District 12. Masaki Donatello. With a score of 9.” Donatello was shocked. The turtles were cheering and clapping, but Leonardo smiled at the support they showed. 

“Not bad. Bravo.” Casey raised his glass to Donatello. Vernon patted Donatello on the shoulder. 

“And finally from District 12. Hamato Leonardo.” Leonardo felt his heart racing. He was thinking he probably got a bad score based on his attitude with the game makers. “With a score of…” He looked at the paper, he seemed confused for a second, then said, “Eleven!” Everyone leaped with excitement, except Donatello. 

The turtles where whooping and the Mikey’s were doing flips. “You are the turtle!” 03Raph cheered. Leonardo just sat there. He was so shocked. “Congratulations.” Donatello said, his voice showing no excitement. Leonardo looked around at everyone looking for answers. 

“I thought they hated me?” Leonardo asked, looking at Casey for answers. He shrugged his shoulders. “I guess they liked your temper. Good job.” He took a drink. Everyone else raised there glasses. 

“To Hamato Leonardo, the turtle on fire!” Irma said, everyone cheering and drinking. Leonardo looked at the sad look on Donatello’s face. He shrugged his shoulders in a way saying ‘I don’t know how I did it.’ 

“Why don’t you go wash up and come back for dinner.” April suggested, her attitude absolutely gone and replaced with a smile. Her tail was waging back and forth. Leonardo wondered if she would get drunk too, or if she could get drunk. 

Donatello and Leonardo both walked back to their rooms to get ready. Before Leonardo could say something to Donatello, he quickly ducked into his room and shut his door. He heard the lock twist on it. Leonardo was confused.

As soon as the turtles entered his room, the Mikey’s clobbered him and made him fall on his bed, with them on top. “Congrats dude!” 87Mikey shrieked. “I’m so happy for you!” 07Mikey yelled. He picked Leonardo up and spun him around. 

“Okay, Mikey you can put me down now.” He stopped spinning him around and put him down on the ground. “Sorry.” He apologized. He was still bouncing with excitement. 

“Nice job!” 12Leo told him. “I still don’t know how I did it? I thought they would hate me?” Leonardo asked. He was still wondering why give him such a high score. He almost killed the gamemakers, why did they give him a high score? His head was hurting. 

“I guess they liked ya. I mean who wouldn’t?” 12Raph said, blushing at what he said. 12Mikey laughed at what his brother said. “I meant...what I really meant…I um…uh, never mind.” 12Raph stuttered, his blush getting redder and redder each time he tried to defend himself. 

Leonardo laughed. “I got what you meant. Thank you.” 12Raph winked at him. Leonardo washed his hands and left the room. He walked out into the living room and Casey, April, Irma and Vernon were sitting at the dining room table eating. But, where’s Donatello? 

“If she’s staring at all my jewels, she can’t take her eyes off me.” Casey bragged, sitting back in his chair and crossing his arms behind his back. “Frankly, I think it was rude for her to not ask the great Casey Jones out.” He made his arms strike a hero pose. 

“Oh, Casey.” April sighed. Casey laughed, he saw Leonardo coming toward them and he pulled out the empty chair beside him. “You should join us. We’re having some of your favorites.” 

“Where’s Donatello?” Leonardo asked, gathering what he wanted on his plate. 

“He’s in his room. He told me he wasn’t hungry. Now listen,” Casey said, turning in his seat to face Leonardo. “Tomorrow’s the last day. When they let us talk with our Tributes right before the game so you and I will be going down at 9.” 

“What about Donatello?” Leonardo asked again, his happy mood slowly deteriorating with Casey not answering his questions. 

“No, he says he wants to be trained on his own from now on.” Casey said, mumbling his words, but Leonardo caught his words. “What?” He asked, angry and shocked. Why would he do that? They made such good progress. 

“This kind of stuff does happen. At this point if there’s…” he waved his hand in the air, thinking of his next words carefully. “Only one winner.” Casey simply stated. Leonardo let his mind wonder. He had to think on the bright side of things now.

‘At least I don’t have to act like Donatello and I are friends,’ he thought. ‘It’s obvious how he wants us to be.’


	9. Chapter 9

“Why would Donatello do that?” 03Leo asked the other turtles. They were eavesdropping on the conversation when Casey said that Donatello wanted to train separately. “Maybe he got scared about Leonardo’s score? Did you see the way he looked when his score was announced?” 

“Yeah, but I didn’t think much into it. I thought his score was okay.” 03Don said, the others were gathered about the room. “I don’t see why Leonardo is upset, he didn’t want to train with Donatello in the first place.” 03Raph said, pointing out the obvious. 

“Yeah, but he could be prove useful in the games.” 87Don pointed out. 

“I can’t believe what I’m hearing. You guys are starting to sound like those heartless monsters who like the idea of seeing others get killed.” 03Raph yelled, his fists shaking with his rage. “Where not agreeing with them,” 03Leo pointed out, aggravate with how his Raph was acting. “We’re just saying how much Donatello doesn’t know about the woods and how Leonardo could help him.” 

“That’s just it,” 03Raph continued on his rant, hoping to get through his brothers skulls. “And at the end, when they are the only two left, they have to pick on who decides to die.” He narrowed his eyes and turned to face away from them. He felt a hand on his shell. He turned and saw the younger version of Mikey. 

“Dude, I hear ya, it’s rough,” he sympathized. “But we have to keep our hopes up.” He said placing his hand over his heart. The others were waiting for him to continue, “Come again?” They were interrupted by the door opening and Leonardo came in with a tray of fruit. 

“So did you guys hear?” Leonardo growled, slamming the tray of food. “Yeah, but why are you making a big deal about this?” 07Don asked, picking up what he assumed looked like an apple. 

“I’m not mad, just aggravated that he didn’t tell me about it.” Leonardo said, huffing and pacing the room like he did earlier. The turtles just let him cool off. Leonardo sat down on the bed and rubbed his face and letting out a slow breath of air. 

“Are you done?” 07Leo asked, throwing the core of his fruit away in the trash can. Leonardo nodded. “Good, then tell us what happens next?” 

“Simple, we get interviewed and then we go to the arena tomorrow.” Leonardo explained. He still didn’t feel too happy with the fact that Donatello won’t be training with him. “So that’s another reason,” Leonardo looked at each of the turtles. “How do you talk to someone without getting nervous?” 

“What? Are you kidding?” 12Don asked, “Didn’t you ever speak in front of anyone before? I mean, you had to talk to the people you traded with.” 

“Well, yeah, but I knew them. I practically grew up with them. It’s just the huge crowd…” Leonardo trailed off, his stomach was twisting and turning. 

“The first thing that always works for me is seeing people in their underwear,” 03Mikey explained, making Leonardo look at him with disgust and horror. “You want me to do WHAT now!” He practically shrieked. 

“Or…” 03Don glared at his brother, who shrugged and sheepishly smiled. “You can think of someone you know about and imagine they are in the audience.”

“Like your brother.” 12Leo stated, smiling when Leonardo perked up a bit. 

“Thanks guys,” Leonardo said. “I appreciate it.” Soon the knock at the door stopped all conversations. The door opened and Irma stuck her head in, “Are you ready?” Leonardo nodded and walked about half way when he turned and gave the others a wink. They waved as Leonardo walked out the door. 

“Ladies and gentlemen. Your master of ceremonies…the Fugitoid!” The lights went up and the Fugitoid stood there enjoying the applause as much as a robot can. He waved to some adoring fangirls in the seat near the stage who shrieked even louder when he did that. “Thank you! Welcome, to the 74th annual Hunger Games!” The audience cheered some more.

At the penthouse, the turtles were watching on the holo-tv. “Now, there are five minutes they are all going to be out here. All of the Tributes that you heard about. Are you ready?” He cupped a hand near his audio sensor. “Let me hear it!” The audience was roaring with excitement.

“I hate this place,” 07Raph said, crossing his arms. “I hate that they treat them like celeb’s one day and entertainment the next. I mean, why?” 

“You heard what Leonardo said when we got here,” 07Leo told his brother. “This is punishment.” 

“Yeah, waiting to be killed.” 07Raph stated, glaring at the screen as Fugitoid waved some more. 

*With Leo and Irma*

“Amazing!” Irma squealed. April was waiting outside with Casey as they waited for their tributes to come out. Leonardo stood in the middle of the room on a small platform and looked at himself in the mirror. 

He was in a blue kimono, but the kimono had what looked like blue flame designs. He wore his blue mask, the tails of the mask ended halfway down his shell. They also had blue flame designed into the tails. It fell almost off his shoulders if it wasn’t for the dark blue belt that hanging in front of him. 

“I don’t feel amazing.” Leonardo said dryly. He stretched his arms wide and the kimono had long sleeves, making his hands disappear. “What’s your obsession with Japanese culture anyway?” 

“Your name.” She simply stated. 

“It’s from the Renaissance times, before the world went to crap.” He corrected her. She looked confused for a second then she blushed. “Oops. Sorry, I meant your Japanese name Hamato.” She got up and fixed a wrinkle in the back. 

“I feel awful,” he said. “I can’t do this.” He went to step off when Irma gripped his shoulders tightly. “Just be yourself. I’ll be there the whole time. Just pretend you’re talking to me.” He knew she was right, but he couldn’t help feeling nervous. 

“Okay,” he nodded. “Promise?” She nodded. “Oh, I almost forgot. When I give the signal, give me a little spin.” He looked confused for a second then nodded. Soon they walked out of the dressing room and meet up with the others. 

Donatello was dressed in the same way, but his was purple and his tails were shorter. He didn’t make eye contact with Donatello the entire time he was in line. Irma tapped him on the shoulder and he turned to look at her. “Okay?” She asked. He smiled.

“Okay.” 

The first one up was Tokkar, he was dressed in a nice Spartan outfit and walked on stage. After his minutes were up Rahzar was next. “Are you prepared?” 

“Yes, I am prepared.” His voice was scratchy and high pitched at the same time. It made Leonardo want to clench his jaws. 

“Man that is one turtle, I don’t want to meet up with in a dark alley.” 03Mikey said, holding his hands over his ears when Rahzar talked. “OWWW!” he yelped as his brother hit him. “Where’s your off switch?” He asked his brother sarcastically. 

Soon one after the other went up and talked with the Fugitoid. Then it was time to introduce the last two tributes. “From District 12, you know Leonardo as one of the turtles on fire!” The applause was deafening. Leonardo felt his legs go numb and auto pilot himself on the stage. His hearing went deaf for a moment as he sat himself down. He heard the Fugitoids muffled robotic voice.   
“What?” He asked, not hearing what he said. The audience laughed and the Fugitoid chuckled. 

“He looks like a deer in headlights.” 12Raph said. 

“How do you know what a deer in headlights look like? We don’t have deer in New York.” 03Don asked. 

“That was a metaphor, Donnie.” 03Leo said to his brother, who blushed and rubbed his head. 

“I think someone’s a little nervous.” Fugitoid told the audience. “I said that was quite an entrance that you’ve made at the Tributes Parade the other day. Do you want to tell us about it?” He looked at Leonardo. 

Leonardo was trying to come up with something, “Well, I was just….” He thought of the first thing that came to him. “Hoping that I wouldn’t burn up?” He said, knowing how dumb that sounded even to him. The audience and the Fugitoid however, thought it was hilarious. Leonardo found himself smiling and relaxing a bit. 

“Start with a joke to break the ice, that’s great.” 12Mikey turned to his Raph. “He’s doing great!” 12Raph shrugged and put his arms behind his head and leaned back. 

“When you came out on that chariot…I have to say…my circuits fried…” Fugitoid told Leonardo, putting a servo on the chair Leonardo was sitting in. 

“So was mine,” Leonardo said, but caught what he said. “My heart, is what I meant.” The audience laughed some more, some Leonardo could see beyond the lights were holding their stomachs. 

“Now tell me about the flames,” Fugitoid leaned toward Leonardo, as if wanting him to tell him a secret. “Are they real?” 

“Yes,” Leonardo looked out at the audience, he saw Irma moving her finger in a spinning motion. “In fact I’m wearing them today.” He looked at the Fugitoid. “Would you like to see?” 

“Wait, wait, wait,” Fugitoid said quickly, “is it safe?” Leonardo nodded, but laughed anyway. “What do you think folks?” The Fugitoid asked the audience who applauded. “I think that’s a yes!” He motioned for Leonardo to stand. 

Leonardo stood up and walked forward a little. “What’s he doing?” 07Leo asked. No one said anything as they watched in awe as they watch Leonardo spin. The flames seemed to come out of the kimono and spread, making a blue ring around him and seemed to flame up. His mask tails making a small fire as he spun around. He stopped and sat down very dizzy.

“Cowabunga!” “Booyakasha!” The turtles shouted.   
“That was really something. Thank you for that, wonderful display.” Leonardo nodded and turned in his seat, feeling more confident and relaxed. 

“I have one more question for you. It’s about your brother…” Leonardo tensed, and the turtles did too. “We are all very moved, I think when…” he paused for the tension. “…you volunteered for him at the Reaping. Did he come to say goodbye?” 

“Yes.” Leonardo said softly. 

“What did you say to him?” Fugitoid put his hands in his lap. 

“I told him that I would try to win. I’ll try to win for him.” Leonardo said truthfully, looking at the Fugitoid. The Fugitoid nodded and clasped Leonardo’s hand. 

“Of course you will.” He stood up and helping Leonardo out of the chair. “Ladies and gentlemen, Hamato Leonardo from District 12 as the turtle on fire!” He raised their joined hands in the air and the audience applauded. Leonardo shook his hand and walked back off stage. 

“He’s the turtle!” 03Mikey cheered. 

“You did it!” April congratulated him.

“Nice job.” Casey winked and patted his shoulder. 

“Masaki Donatello!” Leonardo heard the Fugitoid yell Donatello’s name. He walked over to a small screen for backstage viewers and saw Donatello spinning and showing off his flames. The audience clapping and cheering like they did with him.

“Wow, amazing!” Fugitoid also helped Donatello sit down because he got dizzy. “Donatello, welcome. How are you finding the Capitol, don’t say with a map.” He quickly added. His voice had a little humor mixed into it as the audience laughed. 

“Uh, it’s uh…different.” Donatello answered, tapping his fingers on his knee. 

“Different? In what way? Give us an example.” Fugitoid asked the other turtle, curious as ever. “Uh okay,” he thought for a moment. “Well the showers here are weird?” The audience laughed.

“Showers?” Fugitoid asked, moving one eye up like a brow. 

“Yes,” Donatello smirked. He leant forward in his chair. “I have a favor to ask you.” The Fugitoid also leaned forward. “Do I smell like roses?” 

The Fugitoid looked awkward, “I’m sorry, but I’m not human, I can’t smell you.”

“Oh, that’s fine, it just think I smell like roses.” Donatello leaned back, trying not to look embarrassed. “Well, we can have a stage crew sniff you.” The Fugitoid motioned to someone off stage and made him smell Donatello. The audience laughed at the pink alien who smelled Donatello and shrugged her shoulders and quickly walked off, blushing purple. 

“Donatello, is doing better than Leonardo, he looks almost…calm. Like he practiced this.” 07Don pointed out. The others also voice their concerns. 

“So Donatello tell me, is there a special girl back home?” Fugitoid asked, that made Donatello squirm in his seat. 

“Somethings not right…”87Don said worrying. 

“No, not really.” He said, flicking pretend dust off his kimono. 

“No? I don’t believe it for a second.” Fugitoid said, looking at Donatello with a piercing gaze. “Well…I don’t really like the female population.” Donatello admitted. He blushed so hard his cheeks looked like they were on fire. 

“Oh,” he asked his question differently this time. “Tell me, tell us then. Is there a special boy you like?” 

“Well, there is this one boy who I liked for a really long time. I don’t think he recognized me until the Reaping.” Donatello said sadly. The audience awed. 

“Well, tell you what Donatello. You go out there and you win this thing, and when you get home. He’ll have to go out with you now.” The Fugitoid patted Donatello on the shoulder, but Donatello looked almost…sad.

“I don’t like where this is going dudes.” 87Mikey said, all the turtles sat in anticipation and suspense. 

“I don’t think winning the games is going to help me.” He said, his voice hollow. “And why’s that?” Fugitoid asked. 

“Because he came to the games with me.” 

The turtles gasped. “WHAT?” 

Backstage, Leonardo’s face was expressionless.


	10. Chapter 10

The audience roared with applause and cheering after Donatello announced he was in love with Leonardo. The Fugitoid shook Donatello’s hand and he walked off. He was halfway down the corridor to his dressing room when a fist connected with his jaw. It knocked him into the wall. An arm pinned him across his chest and he was face to face with a furious turtle. 

“What was that all about?” Leonardo demanded, his face close to Donatello’s. His eyes were blazing. Donatello was actually fearing for his life. “You don’t talk to me and you say you have a crush on me? You say you want to train alone,” he spat, getting all his anger out from this morning. “Is that how you wanna play?”

Casey ripped Leonardo off Donatello, and pinned him to the other wall. He stepped in between him and Donatello, while April and Vernon checked on him. Irma stood by watching and making sure no one walked in on them. “Stop!” Casey yelled. 

“He made me look weak!” Leonardo yelled at Casey. Casey turned toward him, “He made you look desirable.” He pointed a finger at Leonardo. “Which in your case, can’t hurt sweetheart!” He sneered, making the last word grind out. Leonardo hated when he called him that when he got in trouble. 

“Now, I can sell the star cross lovers from District 12-“

“We are NOT star cross lovers!” Leonardo cut Casey off, furious at how he was being played like this. 

“It’s a television show,” Casey explained to Leonardo, with a hint of exasperation. “And being in love with that turtle might just get you sponsors and save your life.” Casey pointed at Donatello without looking away from Leonardo. 

Leonardo sent one look toward Donatello, filled with spite. “Okay?” Casey asked, coming into Leonardo’s face, making him stop looking at Donatello. “Okay.” He whispered, his voice hoarse from yelling. 

“Why don’t you get out of here?” Casey pointed his thumb to the exit. Leonardo nodded and stormed to the door. He heard April harshly whisper, “manners,” to him as he stormed past her. He slammed the door open and walked into the elevator. He slammed the top button with his hand and let out a deep breath as the elevator started heading toward the penthouse. 

His eyes widened with realization. The turtles saw the broadcast. Leonardo cursed Donatello with every curse word he remembered and waited for the questions he was about to be screamed at him. The elevator doors opened and he walked fast toward his room. Not bothering to hear the turtles yelling at him with questions.

He closed the door on their face. He got out of his outfit and took a shower. The hot water helped relax his tense shoulders and he put his forehead on the cool tile of the shower wall. He recounted what he had done and felt ashamed of himself. ‘I shouldn’t have reacted like that,’ he thought to himself. 

The guilt was now killing him. Tomorrow was the day and he was feeling guilty. Why didn’t they tell him about this? He could have played along, too. 

‘I guess from now on,’ he thought, ‘I shouldn’t trust no one.’ He turned the shower off and got himself ready for bed. When he opened the bathroom door, he let out a groan. The turtles where in his bedroom. 

“How did you guys get in here?” He asked. One of the Raph’s held up his sai. He internally groaned. Pulled the covers down and got in bed. He pulled the covers over his head, hoping the turtles wouldn’t ask questions. 

But that is impossible with sixteen confused, time warped turtles who he could only see and explain things. “I don’t know why he said that.” He answered. “Tomorrow’s the big day and I want to try to get some sleep.” He closed his eyes. 

He woke up a little while later because he heard a noise outside his room. He peaked his head out from under the covers and looked at the sleeping turtles. ‘Man for ninja’s they suck at hearing noises.’ He thought. 

He got up from the bed and quietly stepped over the turtles. He opened his door, thankful that it didn’t squeak, and stepped out and quietly shut it. He walked out into the living room and on the couch, looking out the window, was Donatello. 

“Still up I see.” Leonardo whispered, startling Donatello.

“Oh, hey.” Donatello said awkwardly. He motioned for Leonardo to have a seat so he did. He sat far apart from Donatello, but close enough to hear what he said. “Can’t sleep?” Leonardo asked. 

“No, of course not.” Donatello whispered, not looking at him. Leonardo felt guilty. “I’m sorry I went after you like that.” Leonardo said, leaning forward a bit so he rested his elbows on his knees, putting his hands together. 

“You know I meant that as a compliment.” Leonardo nodded. “I know.” He whispered, he scooted over a bit. Donatello looked away from the window and focused on Leonardo. 

“Listen,” he started, licking his lips and leaning toward him to whisper. He paused, looking at the ground thinking of a way to put it. 

“Yeah?” Leonardo asked, wanting to know what Donatello was wanting to say.

“I just don’t wanna change me. I’m turning into something I’m not. I just don’t want to be another piece in their game, you know?” Donatello whispered to Leonardo, looking at him like he expected Leonardo to get at what he said.

“You mean you don’t want to kill anyone?” Leonardo asked, that was the only thing he was getting out of that.

“No.” Donatello said, he leant back. Leonardo did the same. They sat there for a few minutes of silence. “I just keep thinking of a way to show them that they don’t own me.” Donatello finally said, letting his true feelings out. 

“If I’m going to die. I wanna still be me.” He said. Leonardo could hear something in his voice but he didn’t know what. 

“Yeah, I understand,” Leonardo trailed off. “I just…can’t afford to think like that.” He finally said. Donatello looking at him. They just stared at each other for a long time. Thinking that they finally understood each other, but Leonardo was starting to get uncomfortable. He cleared his throat softly and stood up. 

“Guess, I’ll see you tomorrow.” He said, and went toward his room. He just barely heard Donatello’s reply. “See you tomorrow.” He stopped and gave Donatello a nod. He snuck quietly back into his room and when he turned he almost yelled. 03Leo stood there with his arms crossed, but a knowing smile on his face. 

“Feeling better?” He asked. Leonardo smiled at him. “Yeah, much better.” He went back to sleep and had a peaceful night. 

The next morning, Leonardo was woken up early and was given a uniform to wear. Since he was a turtle he didn’t need that much. He was giving knee and elbow pads, a belt and shoes made for his feet. He turned toward the turtles. They each gave him a goodbye hugs. The Mikey’s were teary eyed. The Don’s were a little but not much, except 87Don. The Raph’s were pulling a tough guy act and trying not to show emotion, but 87 and 12 Raph was failing. The Leo’s were calm. 

“We’ll be watching,” 03Leo whispered to him as he gave him a hug. “And waiting for you to get back.” Leonardo nodded. He was trying to be brave but saying goodbye to his new friends was going to be hard. He waved to them and walked out of his room, hoping he would see them again. 

Casey was waiting for him. “Donatello’s already been briefed so you need to listen to everything that I say.” Casey explained to him as they walked to the elevator. Casey explained what he could to Leonardo as they walked to the hangar where a hovercraft was waiting for the Tributes to board. 

“They put all kinds of stuff right in the front. Right in the mouth of the Cornucopia. There’ll even be a bow there, don’t go for it!” Leonardo looked at Casey confused. “Why?” 

“It’s a Bloodbath, they’re trying to pull you in. It’s not your game. You turn, run, find a high ground and look for water, that’s your top priority. Don’t step off the pedestal early or they’ll blow you sky high.” Leonardo stared incredulously at Casey. 

“I’ve seen it happen and it’s not pretty.” Casey assured him. They stopped at the door that lead them to the hovercraft. “Leonardo, you can do this. I believe in you.” He patted Leonardo’s shoulder and opened the door for him.

“Thanks Casey, for everything.” He said and walked out the door toward the huge hovercraft. It had huge turbo’s and wings that were almost touching the walls. He stepped on the boardwalk and sat down on one of the seats. The other Tributes were getting shots in their arms. 

“Give me your arm.” A green-blue salamandrian held a syringe looking tool and pressed it into Leonardo’s stretched out arm. He winced at the slight sting of a thing going into his arm. He saw a faint glow beneath his skin. “What’s that?” He asked the salamandrian. 

“Your tracker.” She simply stated and walked to the other tributes. The hovercraft shook and soon they were air born. They landed thirty minutes later and the tributes were taken to a room. Leonardo saw a tube that lead to somewhere. The door opened to his room and Irma walked in with a blue mask in one hand and the other hiding something.

“This mask isn’t made of fire, this is a normal one.” She tied the mask around his head. The tails were shorter and came to his shoulder. “I talked to the designers who had turtles and they agreed to put masks on you guys. Another turtle, who is a girl, has light blue so they should tell the difference.” She held up the Mockingjay pin that he gave to Mikey on Reaping day. That seemed just yesterday. 

She pinned it to his belt. “I’m not allowed to bet, but if I could I’d bet on you.” She said to him, looking him in the eye as she said this, playing with his mask tails. He gave her a hug and whispered in her ear, “Thank you.” She hugged him tighter. She was one person he was defiantly going to miss. 

A bell chimed. “That’s your que. Come back to us Leonardo.” She patted his shoulder and watched him get into the tube. A door closed behind him sealing him in. Soon the tube was taking him upward. He clasped onto the walls and was taken up to an arena. The area was a forest with twenty three platforms, each containing a tribute. 

In the middle of where they stood, a giant metal Cornucopia sat, with weapons and backpacks scattered out from it. He looked around for Donatello and saw him. He was shaking his head. Leonardo looked above the Cornucopia and saw the count down. 

10….

9…..

8…..

7…..

6….

At District 12, Mikey and Splinter sat in the living room, holding onto each other. Raph was with his family, staring at the screen with no expression, whatsoever.

5……

4……

The turtles gathered on the couch. Each holding their breath, hearts hammering in their chests as they watched the tributes getting ready.

3….

2…..

Leonardo let out a breath. Praying that he could have said goodbye to his brother and tell him that he loves him.

1….

The canon fired and the Games began.


	11. Chapter 11

The tributes ran off the platforms toward the Cornucopia. Leonardo hesitated and missed his chance because he was watching Donatello run the other way. He cursed himself and ran to the nearest thing he could find. A backpack. He ran to it and another hand grabbed it. He looked up and saw another fox, but she had red fur. They grappled for the backpack for a little bit when she suddenly tensed and fell forward.

 

Leonardo fell back and dropped the backpack. He glanced up and saw the dead fox with a knife sticking out of her back. He looked up and saw the snake girl who is Karai, holding knives. She was glaring at him. She went to throw the knife she had and Leonardo grabbed the backpack up and shielding himself with it.

 

He felt the backpack jerk from the force of the knife and he quickly scrambled to his feet. He ran with his prize to the woods and away from the carnage that was behind him. He didn’t know where he was going but he knew he had to get away from there.

 

He ran for a few miles, he assumed, and rested on a log.

 

**“Phew, that was a close one dudes,” 87Mikey said, wiping his sweating hands.**

Leonardo pulled the knife out of the backpack. “Thanks for the knife,” he said sarcastically. He placed the knife on the log and checked out his other equipment. A sleeping bag, some rope, a purifier, crackers, and a canteen to hold water. ‘I got to go find water,’ Leonardo thought. He put all his stuff back in his bag and continued forward.

 

He was walking for a while now when he heard the first sound of a canon. Signaling a dead tribute.

 

He counted eleven. So that means thirteen are still alive. He wondered where Donatello went. ‘Forget about him,’ Leonardo thought, scolding himself for thinking that. ‘He wanted to do stuff on his own, he’s going to get through this alone.’ He continued trekking.

 

He set up some snares and decided to try to find somewhere to set up camp. First he made a small fire. He made sure to keep some soil piled up so he can put it out faster if he heard anyone. Then he went to check on the snares. He caught one squirrel. He took his crackers out and ate two with the squirrel.

 

He walked a few more and suddenly stopped beneath a big tree. The limbs were almost made like it was able to hold a person. So he climbed the tree and stopped on the fourth branch. He pulled out his rope and sleeping bag to get ready for bed, night was falling and he needed the sleep.

All that running had made him tired. He tied his sleeping bag to the trunk of the tree and climbed in it. He was about to go to sleep when he heard the anthem play. The Capitol symbol appeared in the sky and soon pictures of the dead tributes showed up.

 

One from District 3, what Leonardo could describe as a mutant hyena. ‘The Careers made it,’ he thought rolling his eyes. Both District 4 tributes. The Hawk girl from District 5, so the white fox made it. The fox he tangled with to get the backpack was from District 6 and her partner, another mutant turtle, female died.

 

Both District 7 tributes, a bat with metal wings and a wasp. District 8 tributes, another mutant wasp and an alien looking cat creature were dead. Both District 9 tributes an alien ladybug type thing and a mutant tiger. And District 10 lost a female fox, she had gray fur. The anthem soon ended and the noises of night creatures filled the air.

 

Leonardo was happy that Donatello and the rabbit Usagi wasn’t there. He wondered how the turtles were holding up.

 

**“And there you have it folks, the first eleven tributes are gone and thirteen remain.” The Fugitoid announced, Rocksteady sitting next to him nodding along.**

**“And I think I see an alliance forming, Fugitoid.” Rocksteady told his android co-host.**

**“Alliance?” 07Mikey asked, scratching the top of his head.**

**“Yeah, didn’t Leonardo tell you that the Careers always form an alliance in the games?” 12Don said, focusing his attention on the screen.**

Leonardo was about to fall asleep when he smelled smoke. He jolted awake and saw in the far off distance, close enough to see flames, a small fire and a tribute. He couldn’t see who it was but he hoped Donatello wasn’t stupid to have a fire in the middle of night.

 

He settled himself back against the tree when he heard a female scream. Soon enough the canon went off.

 

**The turtles flinched.**

The anthem played again and it showed a female wolf from District 10. He sighed. Now there was twelve.

 

**“She should have known better.” 03Raph growled. 03Don was about sick of his brother dishing out wise cracks. He got up and poked his finger at his brothers’ chest. “What’s the deal Raph?” He growled, it wasn’t like him to yell but he was sick of his brother.**

**“What is it now Brainiac?” He asked sarcastically. “Mask cutting off the circulation to that big brain you have?” He crossed his arms and looked up at his young brother.**

**“I wish you would quite dishing out wise cracks and insults. I don’t like how you disrespect the mutants and aliens that are forced to take part in this…this disgraceful manner!” By the time 03Don was done, he was out of breath from yelling at his brother.**

**“Are you done?” he asked 03Don, raising a brow. His brother stopped. Blinked. Then he sat down with a huff.**

**“Look Don, I don’t like the fact that they have to go through with this,” 03Raph stated, his eyes showing sympathy. “I just can’t deal with the fact that we have to sit here and do nothing while Leonardo and the others are forced to kill each other.”**

**03Leo put a hand on his brother’s shoulder and shared a look with him. “I know I don’t like it too. But we’ll get through this and figure out a way home.” He told him. They stopped when 87Mikey said, “What’s up with the Leo mister?”**

 

He jolted again when he heard laughter and footsteps. He pressed himself against the trunk and tried to make himself look invisible. He just prayed they didn’t see him.

 

**“That’s what’s wrong with the Leo mister.” 87Raph pointed on the screen, biting his nails.**

 

“Did you see the look on her face?” One career, he thinks it was Rahzar, giggled with his scratchy voice. It made Leonardo want to grind his teeth together. The others were laughing and he peeked to see the Careers stopping underneath his tree.

 

Slash turned around, “Hey, lover boy are you coming?” he yelled in an annoyed and irritated voice. What Leonardo heard shocked him. He had to grip the tree branch under him to keep from falling out of the tree.

 

Donatello walked up to the Careers.

 

**“WHAT!!!!” The turtles yelled. They had their mouths hung open in shock.**

**“Donatello’s joined the Careers?” 03Mikey asked, appalled at what he was seeing.**


	12. Chapter 12

**“WHAT!” 03Raph yelled, he kicked the coffee table. He ignored the pain in his foot as he watched Donatello walk up to the Careers.**

“You sure he went this way?” Slash asked, glaring at Donatello. Donatello gave a nod, sure of himself. “Yeah, I’m sure. That was one of his snares.” Donatello said to Slash. The other Careers stood around the turtle and he felt nervous.

 

“I’m going to see if we got that one girl.” He quickly said and ran to the dead fox’s campsite. Tokkar and Karai shrugged and walked or slithered, in her Karai’s case, away. Rahzar turned to glare at Slash.

 

“Are you sure we shouldn’t kill him now?” Rahzar questioned Slash. He gave Rahzar a glare and nodded, “He is the only one who can find him. I want to know how he got that eleven.” Slash said in his gravelly voice. Leonardo let his breath out when the two walked away when Donatello came back.

 

He noticed when he saw Rahzar walk away, was that he had the bow and arrows. He cursed.

 

**“That one turtle has Leonardo’s bow and arrow!” 07Mikey hollered. He pointed to the turtle with the spikes on walked away with the weapon.**

**“Yeah, yeah, just shut up will ya?” 07Raph threw a pillow at his brother. The two was about to start a fight when 07Leo stopped both of them.**

**“Knock it off,” he pushed them apart. “You’re acting like a couple of teenagers.”**

**“In case you’ve forgotten,” 07Raph crossed his arms. “We ARE teenagers.” He replied with emphasis on his words. 07Leo blushed at his mistake and sat down, face red and the others laughing at him.**

The arena lightened up and Leonardo woke up and untied himself from the tree. He climbed down the tree, making sure that all his supplies was still there. He glanced around the area and didn’t hear anything. He decided to walk to the dead fox’s campsite and see what he can scavenged.

 

He was sure Donatello and the Careers took the important stuff, but checking again didn’t seem to hurt. He approached the campsite and saw the remains of a fire and a backpack. Its flap was partially closed, “They already cleaned out the backpack.” Leonardo muttered under his breath.

 

He looked saw the fake sun flash off something. He picked it up. It was another canteen. “They must have missed this.” He shook it. Nothing. He sighed.

 

He shrugged his pack off and placed the canteen in his pack. “Might as well keep it,” he said, closing the pack. “Might run into some water along the way.” He continued on his way in the direction he was heading in.

 

He walked several miles until he spotted a rock with moss. “When there’s moss….” He hurried his pace and found a small pond. It had lily pads and primroses. He sighed with relief. He sat down and opened his pack. He took the two canteens out and the purifier.

 

He filled both up and put a few drops into the canteens. He put them back and went hunting. He sat up a few snares and went to find a new place to set up his bed for the night. He found a tree three feet away from the small pond.

 

He checked his snares and found two rabbits. He cooked them over a small fire and immediately put the fire out. He ate his food up in his tree and having cool refreshing clean water to drink. He was happy he found this.

 

He finished his food and refilled the canteen. He soon fell asleep.

 

**“I’m worried.” 03Mikey said quite upset about something.**

**“What is it now Mikey?” 03Don asked his brother. They were getting ready to go to bed and finish watching the games tomorrow.**

**“What’s going to happen to Donatello when the Careers don’t want to use him anymore?” He asked, watching 07Don turn off the holo-tv and the turtles placing blankets around the room. They found out that no one came back after Leonardo and Donatello left and the turtles could order food and sleep without anyone interrupting them.**

**It’s always fun seeing the look on the alien’s that deliver pizza to an empty penthouse. “They obviously kill him, if they don’t need him anymore.” 03Raph said from the other side of the room, carrying out more pillows and blankets. “Man, this place has more blankets than a store.” He complained and placed them in the middle of the room.**

**“I’m saying,” 03Mikey said annoyed at his brother, “Is that we’re here worrying about blankets-“He gave 03Raph a look-“And we can’t do anything about it!” He threw his hands in the air and walked in a circle. The other turtles stopped and stared at him while he ranted.**

**“I’m sick of seeing the death! I’m sick of watching poor innocent mutants and aliens dying! I’M GOING CRAZY! OWWW!” He rubbed his head when 03Leo smacked him.**

**“Calm down, Mikey, I’m pretty sure there is something we can do. Right Don?” He looked at his smart sibling. 03Don seemed to stop and think. “I have an idea, but…” He stopped. 12Leo approach him.**

**“Whatever it is, we can do it.” He pointed at himself and his brothers.**

**“Aw yeah son, ninja stealth mode?” 12Mikey did a flip and held a smoke bomb. 03Don shook his head. “I appreciate the offer, but we can’t do anything right now. Let me sleep on it and I’ll tell you all tomorrow.” He patted the younger version of his older brother and the turtles fell into a deep sleep.**

The next day, Leonardo woke up with the smell of smoke. He almost chocked with how strong the smell was. He immediately woke up and saw a fire wall ahead of him. He quickly undid his rope and packed as fast as he can. He jumped from where he was, it wasn’t that far. He landed on the forest ground and he instantly took off. Covering his nose with his hand. The smoke making his eyes blurry.

 

‘I have to get out of here!’ he thought and ran with all his might trying to escape the fire that seemed to be closing in.

 

**The turtles woke up and ate whatever was left of the pizza from the other day. Once they turned on the holo-tv they were all shocked with what they saw.**

**A fire had started and right in the middle, they saw a figure running. It was Leonardo and he was surrounded on all sides. He couldn’t get out.**

**“LEO!” 12Mikey shouted.**


	13. Chapter 13

The smoke was hurting his eyes. He was wheezing while running. Leonardo was trying to get out of the forest fire that suddenly came from nowhere. He pulled off his mask and tied it firmly against his beak, trying to stop the smoke from trying to get into his lungs.

 

**“LEO!” 12Mikey shouted. The turtles watched as he tied his mask over his nose and ran. “Oh man, oh man, oh man, I think I’m going to explode with all this excitement!” He exclaimed, holding the top of his head.**

**Everyone held their breath as they watched Leonardo trying to get out of the fire.**

Leonardo found a gap in between some trees and made a dash toward it. Something crashed behind him, a few feet away. He broke through the gap and tried to head north of the fire. He heard what sounded like a canon and he felt a heat wave hit him.

 

He stumbled a bit, but managed to work his feet to keep him upright. He ran a couple more miles then he skidded to a stop when a tree, which was on fire around the base, let loose from the ground and fell in front of him.

 

He felt the embers hitting his skin causing sharp stings of pain but he ignored that and changed his course. He heard two more canon sounds and ignored them. He saw another gap, this time he had to crawl through an uprooted tree. He quickly ran toward it. A canon fired.

 

A fire ball landed in front of the entrance and Leonardo was shot back. His leg burning. He clenched his teeth as he griped his leg in pain, trying not to touch the burned area. He laid on the ground, tears forming in his eyes. The fire was coming closer now.

 

**When Leonardo gasped out in pain the turtles jumped to their feet. They saw his face twisted in pain and the camera zoomed in on Leonardo’s leg. “He’s got a three degree burn! He will die of infection if he doesn’t get that healed!” 03Don yelled in outrage.**

Leonardo tried to gather as much strength as he could and crawled to a tree root. He slowly used that to pull himself up. Stopping to wince in pain because of his injury. He knew he had to get out of there. What was left of the fire ball charred the entrance but he was going to risk it.

 

Trying to not get his burn worse, he quickly as he could, crawled his way through the log. He managed to get out the other side and it was a straight stretch of tree’s that wasn’t on fire. He got back on his feet and limped quickly away from the area.

 

He struggled but managed to put some distance between him and the fire. He stopped to take a rest and put his hand on a rock. He placed himself on the rock and tried to take a look at his wound. He felt his stomach turn and the taste of bile when he looked at it.

 

He had dark red splotches and what looked like blood running down his leg. His normal light skin color was dark around the area. It was about as dark as Raphael skin. He unwrapped one of his bands and wrapped it around the area. Whimpering and letting out small gasps at the way the cloth rubbed against his wound.

 

As soon as he was finished, he tried to get his breath back. The way his leg looked, he didn’t know how long till infection settled in. He sure hopped that he had sponsors.

 

**The guys watched as Leonardo fix his wound and the way his face twisted in pain when he treated it. “Don, tell me you figured out a way to help him?” 03Leo asked his brother. 03Don was thinking of something, but he didn’t know if it would work.**

**“I was thinking that maybe we can be Leonardo’s sponsors.” He said, excitedly. The turtles looked at him like he grown two heads.**

**“Uh, Don, in case you haven’t realized, we can’t go there and give him stuff.” 03Mikey pointed out to his Don. He decided Don has finally flipped his shell.**

**“No, no, I mean send him stuff.” The confused faces made him groan. “Haven’t you guys been paying attention?” He looked at them, crossing his arms and raising a brow.**

**“Yeah, a bunch of mutants and aliens getting slaughtered. What’s your point?” 07Raph said, leaning on the couch, staring expectantly at 03Don.**

**“I have noticed Parachutes being dropped into the arena,” 03Don said, a small smile on his face. “I have heard a bleeping noise and I’ve noticed in the corners of the screen, a small package is being sent to the tributes. If I can get my hands on one of those Parachutes, maybe I can send a note and some medicine to Leonardo.”**

**Everyone cheered. “Way to go Don, you are the turtle!” Everyone high fived 03Don or patted him on the shell. 12Raph noticed Leonardo tensing on the screen. “Hold on guys, I don’t think this is over.” Everyone turned and saw Leonardo turn around.**

It wasn’t a few minutes later, until Leonardo heard a low noise. Like….laughter. ‘Careers?’ He thought, ‘they must have been driven hear by the fire.’ He peeked around the tree next to him and saw a stream that made a small waterfall with rocks sticking out of the surface of the water.

 

And hopping across the stream was the Careers, and Donatello, who was holding a sword. They were laughing and chatting about something. Soon, Karai noticed him watching him. She pointed at him with one of her snake heads for hands and hissed, “There he isssss!” She exclaimed with joy.

 

 

**“Oh, great, first the fire, now them! He’s sure having a bad day.” 87Raph complained, sitting on the coffee table. His leg bouncing up and down.**

**“And guess who’s with them.” 03Raph growled darkly, pointing at Donatello. The turtles still wasn’t getting over the betrayal Donatello did.**

**“And I was starting to think Don was cool,” 03Mikey wined, crossing his arms and pouting. “OWWW!” He yelped, rubbing his sore arm where his Don punched him. He chuckled nervously and flashing his glaring brother a smile.**

The other Careers looked toward his direction and cheered. The hopping and leaping across the stream was fast. Soon they would be near him. He gathered the last remaining strength he had and ran. He tried not to stop because the fabric was rubbing his burn raw, but he had to get away.

 

The tree’s looked brand new, as if there was never a fire. He stopped to look for a tree. The Careers getting closer. He settled for one that was near him and he climbed, avoiding his wound. As soon as he settled on a high branch, which he was sure they wouldn’t reach him, the Careers were at his tree. They gathered around the base like a hungry pack of vultures.

 

**“That’s it, he’s toast.” 12Mikey groaned.**

Slash stashed his weapon on his back and started climbing. Leonardo was now fearing that his attempt of escape was useless. “I’m going to get you.” Slash growled and grabbed onto a limb, but the limb couldn’t hold his weight and he fell.

 

**“Yes,” 07Mikey cheered, pumping his fist in the air, “Score one for the good guys!”**

“I’ll do it myself!” Rahzar growled, in his screeching voice. He grabbed an arrow and aimed at Leonardo in the tree. He missed him by a few inched. Leonardo cling to the tree, pressing his face against the trunk. Waiting for an arrow.

 

Rahzar tried two more times until Slash got annoyed and tried. “Why don’t you throw the sword?” Leonardo asked the Careers, cockily.

 

**The turtles grinned at his shot at bravery.**

“Let’s just wait him out.” Donatello spoke up. The Careers looking at him.

 

**03Raph and 07Raph growled.**

“He’s gonna come down at some point.” He said providing a reason to stay. The rest reluctantly nodded and Slash ordered Karai and Rahzar to go get fire wood. While him and Tokkar went to find food.

“You,” he pushed the purple banned turtle near the tree. “Stay here and watch him. If he comes down, kill him.” He said, smirking and looking at Leonardo up in the tree. Tokkar laughed and followed Slash.

 

Donatello looked up at Leonardo with worried eyes. “Sorry,” he whispered and sat down near the base of the tree. Leonardo was confused. He wanted to ask why but Karai and Rahzar returned a few short minutes later.

 

Pretty soon they all came back and ate. They even set up camp. Leonardo set up his own bed in the tree and tied his rope extra tight to make sure that he didn’t fall on top of them. Night fall was soon upon them and the Careers fell asleep.

 

**“Wonder what he was sorry about?” 12Leo asked, laying out his blanket and pillow.**

**“I don’t know and I don’t like it.” 12Raph grunted, rolling on his side to face his brother, resting his chin on his hand. “He’s probably wanting to gain Leonardo’s trust back by trying to apologize.”**

**“Maybe?” He thought off and settled on his pillow, having a bad feeling.**

**“Have you thought how you were going to help Leonardo?” 07Leo asked 03Don. He was writing a slip of paper and folding it up and tucking it in his belt.**

**“I’m going to sneak down to the medical lab and find some sort of burn cream for him.” 03Don headed toward the elevator.**

**“I’ll come with you.” 03Mikey quickly said and managed to slip into the elevator. Giving his brother a smile as the door closed. 03Don pinched between his eyes. “Okay, if you’re going to tag along, follow me. And don’t go wondering off.” 03Don warned his brother who nodded vigorously.**

**They waited patiently until they hit the ground floor. “If I was a med lab in the Capital where would I be?” 03Mikey asked himself, rubbing his chin. He noticed a door and decided that looked like a medical lab thing. He opened the door and saw janitor supplies.**

**“What have I told you?” A voice scorned him. He jumped and slammed the door.**

**“Shhh, we don’t want to draw attention to ourselves.” 03Don said, pulling his brother by the arm. He jumped over the counter and turned on the computer. “Man, this is sure some high tech equipment they have. Maybe I can try to make a copy of it when we get back to the lair.”**

**“Yeah, yeah, science is boring. Try finding the lab on that thing.” 03Mikey yawned already tired of Don’s techno gab. Don worked his techno magic and managed to find the med lab.**

**“It’s in the basement. Now all we need is to find some burn cream.” He typed in a few key words into the search bar and found one. “And they have it in stock, great! It says it should work within two minutes.”**

**“That’s great, let’s go see if we can go back to bed.” The two turtles hurried to the bottom floor and found the cream. Don opened it and it was a clear color but had a strange smell.**

**“Man that stuff stinks. What do they make that stuff out of? Baby diapers?” He asked, holding his nose and letting it go when Don put the lid pack on.**

**“Now all we need is a Parachute and send it to the arena.” Don said excitedly, glad his plan was working out great.**

**“Um, one question,” Mikey asked. “How do we find those?” Don sighed and walked back up to the computer to find out where the parachutes are and where to take it too.**

**After sneaking out of the training center and toward a big silver building, the two turtles found themselves in a room with silver containers. Don chose one on the top shelf and walked to a chute that would send the container to the tribute that they want. They walked over to the vent with ‘12’ and Leonardo’s name.**

**Don placed the cream inside and the note. He attached the container to some silk and the container got swept away. “Air mail.” Mikey said, giving Don a thumbs up.**

**“How’d I know you were going to say that?” Don sighed and walked off.**

**The two returned back to the training center and up to the top floor. Where on the screen, the heard a bleeping noise.**

Leonardo woke up. Hearing a strange noise that sounded like a beep. He looked up and found a container heading toward him. It landed on the branch above him. Looking down at the group on the ground he untied himself and used the trunk as a leverage to pull himself up. He grabbed the container and sat back down.

 

He opened the seal and found a note: ‘Apply generously and stay alive- Turtles’

 

He smiled and put the note in the container lid and opened the cream. He scrunched his nose at the smell and applied it to the wound. It felt like an ice pack was placed on it and his leg went numb. The pain was gone and he sighed.

 

“Thank you.” He whispered. Thanking the turtles for looking out for him. He put the cream in his pack and retied himself to the tree and he fell into a nice sleep.

 

**“I don’t know how you did it, but you did good.” 03Don blushed at the compliment he got from his hotheaded brother. He turned off the holo-Tv and went to sleep with a smile on his face.**

**‘At least we can do good in this world,’ he thought.**


	14. Chapter 14

Leonardo woke up to the sound of birds. He yawned and rubbed his eyes. He looked down and saw the careers still asleep. He let out a frustrated sigh. He closed his eyes. ‘How do I get out of this mess?’ he thought. He thought if he quietly climbed down the tree, he can land on the other side and get away.

 

He heard a noise. He instantly sat up straighter and check the careers. Still asleep, so who or what is making that noise? He glanced across and he saw a familiar white rabbit.

 

**“Usagi! I forgot about him, but what’s he doing?” 03Mikey asked. The turtles got up just in time to see Leonardo and Usagi having a silent conversation. They saw Usagi point up.**

Leonardo furrowed his brow and looked up. It was a brown thing that had a bug flying in and out once in a while. He looked back at Usagi, seeing him make a sawing motion with his hands and pointing at the careers down below.

 

**“Bugs. I hate bugs.” 03Raph growled, shuddering at the thought of the ones on the TV.**

Leonardo nodded, giving Usagi a thumbs up and started untying himself. He check his wound and noticed his leg was better. The skin was still darker than the rest of him but he could move it.

 

**“Glad his leg is better,” 03Don spoke up, happy with his help from yesterday. “He should put another dap on and the color might turn back to normal.” He brothers gave him high fives and fist bumps.**

**“Nice work Donnie,” 03Leo praised him. “At least we can help at some degree.”**

Leonardo dug inside his backpack and fished out the knife Karai threw at him. It wasn’t a saw but it would have to do. Attaching it to his belt, he started climbing the tree to reach the branch where the nest was.

 

**The Fugitoid and Rocksteady appeared on the screen. The turtles let out groans.**

**_“Rocksteady. I think those are trackerjackers am I wrong?” The Fugitoid asked his co-host. A picture of a wasp was shown behind them and it focused on the stinger._ **

****

**_“Those things are very lethal.” Rocksteady said, shaking his head. He straightened his papers and looked at the screen. “For those who don’t know. Trackerjackers are genetically engineered wasps. Whose venom causes serious pain, powerful hallucinations and in extreme cases, death.”_ **

****

**They disappeared and the scene showed Leonardo inching his way on the branch were the trackerjackers nest was. Knife now in his hand.**

**“Is he crazy? Didn’t he hear a word those guys said?” 07Leo asked, his voice rising just a little.**

Leonardo got himself settled on the branch and placed the knife on the branch and started sawing. At first the moving of the branch didn’t disturb the trackerjackers, but as he added more pressure to speed up the process, the buzzing was growing louder. A few even ventured out of their home and flew around him.

 

He kept pausing to swat at them but one managed to sting him on the neck. He clasped his neck. He tried not to make any noise, but the pain was so intense a whimper came out. He quickly glanced down and saw Tokkar twitch, but he went right back to sleep. Leonardo continued sawing the branch.

 

He managed to get stung to more times, one on his hand and one on his arm, and he managed to saw the branch off and it fell onto the unsuspecting careers. The nest broke and the angry trackerjackers swarmed around. They all jumped and started batting them away. Some even ran off in different directions, but Rahzar wasn’t so lucky. He was sleeping close the where the nest hit and they thought he was responsible for the nest breaking.

 

His head, arms and legs were swollen with bumps from the stings. A canon went off.

 

**“I don’t like the look of that. He’s like the time Mikey got shell acne.” 12Raph teased his brother. The others raised their eyes as 12Mikey stuck his tongue out and pouted. Making a disgusted face at the swollen dead turtle on the screen.**

**12Leo and 12Don waved them off. Wanting to talk about it later.**

Leonardo was zooning in and out of the world that he lost his balance and fell right onto Rahzar. He rolled off the turtle and tried to get on his feet. The forest seemed to spin and wouldn’t stand still. He walked a little woozy at first and tried to leave but he saw the bow laying on the ground. He could finally have the bow.

 

He fell down next to the bow and looked around as best he could for the arrows. He looked at the body of Rahzar and saw the quiver laying underneath him. Leonardo crawled toward the turtle and pushed against the heavy turtle. But in his state it was more like a pathetic shove.

 

‘Come on Leo,’ he encouraged himself. ‘You can do this.’

 

He used all his strength to push the turtle off and rolled him onto his belly. He drunkenly put the quiver on and grabbed the bow. He slowly got up. He heard a noise and turned toward the person standing there.

 

He squinted to get his vision focused. He saw three Donatello’s. He had a bump on his forehead and on his shoulder. “Go, get out of here. GO!” He shoved Leonardo. He stumbled but caught himself and walked off. He didn’t know where he was going. The trees seemed to tilt at an odd angle and it looked like the rocks were floating. He stumbled some more until he tripped on a root.

 

‘I didn’t expect this was how the way I was going to go,’ he thought. And the last thing he saw was a pair of feet before the darkness took him under.

 

**The turtles stared at the screen. Slacked jaws all around.**

**“I wish Donatello would make up his mind. Be with the careers or not. It’s so confusing.” 87Mikey complained, hitting his head on the coffee table with a bang.**

**They saw Usagi drag Leonardo toward a hollowed out log and used his backpack for a headrest. He placed the bow and arrows against the log and covered Leonardo with leaved.**

**“What’s he doing to Leonardo? Making a garden?” He jokingly asked.**

**“No, I’m assuming that he’s using some sort of herb to draw the venom out. According to what Leonardo told us about the districts when we got here, they harvest fruits and nuts-“he got chuckles from the Mikey’s and Raph’s-“he must now some herbs as well. Of course I could just be guessing.”**

**“Well, whatever he’s doing, I’m afraid we have a long wait.” 03Leo said, staring at his counterpart laying there. Hoping that he wouldn’t die.**

**“Now that we have plenty of time to kill what was it about shell acne?” 07Raph asked his younger counterpart. 12Raph laughed.**


	15. Chapter 15

Leonardo dreamed about his parents. His father taking him down into the forest and teaching him how to hunt. They would head down to the lake and try to fish. Catching fish was over, his father threw him into the lake. That’s where he learned to swim. A year later, they would return to this place and teach Mikey to swim. A month later, his father died.

 

He still remembered how his mother, unmoving and a blank face, he kept his hopes up that she would get out of her state and help around the house. She died two years later, the medics were baffled. They never seen anyone die without a reason. Hunger or mining accidents were common in District 12, not just a random cause of death. Leonardo knew how she died he always knew. She died of a broken heart. Not having her husband there was killing her. That left them on the street.

 

He dreamt of that raining day where Donatello threw the bread at him. Once he returned to Mikey with the bread, Splinter and his wife found them, and took them in. They once again had a happy life. She died of cancer. Splinter went into a catatonic state. Leonardo was terrified that he was going to die like their mother. He had enough. He decided to take care of them. It wasn’t long before Splinter got out of his chair, but he wouldn’t speak.

 

Then, all of a sudden, he was in the forest. He looked up and Donatello was fighting off Slash, “Go!” He yelled and ran off into the forest. Slash charging after him.

 

Leonardo woke up to a bright light. He blinked to get his vision back to normal and he sat up. He was lying in a hollowed out log and he saw his pack where his head was and his bow and arrows propped up against the log. He didn’t remember how he got there but he was feeling much better.

 

‘Better get out of here while I still can.’ He thought. He put his pack back on and his quiver of arrows. He held tightly to his bow and walked out of the log. He was meet with more sunlight and the forest was alive with sounds of animals. He looked for anyone and kept his ears open and walked away from the log.

 

**“Hey, sleeping beauty finally awake?” 12Mikey teased, placing himself between 12Don and 03Leo.**

**“I knew he would pull through.” 03Raph admitted. The others gave chuckles under their breath and continued watching Leonardo walking around. Looking better than he did two days ago.**

Leonardo felt his stomach growl. He knew he hadn’t eaten, but for how long was he out? And more importantly who rescued him? He drew one arrow out of the quiver and got ready to aim. He walked quietly through the forest looking for food.

 

He saw a squirrel eating a few feet in front of him. He snuck around to hide behind a tree. He took aim of the squirrel, but before he could release the arrow, he heard a twig snap. He quickly turned around moving his bow around looking for the intruder. He saw a white ear twitch then hid behind the tree.

 

He quirked his brow up and lowered his bow slightly. “Usagi?” He called out hesitantly. Said rabbit stepped out behind the tree.

 

“Greeting, Leonardo-san,” he bowed. “I’m so happy you have recovered.”

 

“You helped me?” He asked, lowering the bow completely and putting back the arrow. The squirrel completely forgotten.

 

“I’m not one who likes to see one suffer. I’m just a little surprised that Donatello would betray you.” Usagi said, surprise in his voice. Leonardo gave him a sad look. “You saw that, huh?”

 

“I think everyone did.” He joked giving Leonardo a smile. Leonardo already liked Usagi. “Do you want some food?” Usagi asked grabbing a sack from his belt. “Don’t worry, I know which ones we can eat.” He assured him.

 

“Sure,” he motioned to the tree, “have a seat. I was about to get a squirrel, but he’s gone.” He pointed over his shoulder to where the squirrel used to be. “Sorry.” Usagi said clearly upset about scaring off food.

 

“Don’t worry about it. I water in my pack we each can have one canteen.” Usagi’s eyes light up with delight about water. They sat down at the base of a tree and ate the fruits that Usagi picked.

 

“How long was I out?” Leonardo asked when their stomachs were full.

 

“Two days.” He said. “I was wondering if you were ever getting up. I managed to heal your stings thanks to some herbs I remembered from my district.”

 

“You’re from District 11, right? With that Rhino.”

 

“Gen.” Usagi chuckled shaking his head. “He’s an excellent warrior but he is a great gardener.”

 

“That’s right you guys are from District 11.” Usagi nodded. “Yes and we harvest the fruits and recognize the herbs that are able to heal.” Leonardo nodded. “And you’re from the coal district.”

 

A few minutes passed. “Who else has died?” He asked while finishing the last of his water.

 

“That one turtle.” He answered handing back Leonardo’s spare canteen. Leonardo didn’t want to ask about him but he was worried.

 

“What about the turtle from my district?” He asked hesitantly.

 

“No, but I’ve seen him down near the stream.” Usagi said. “Why are you missing him?” He smirked at Leonardo who blushed.

 

“No! I’m just worried about him.” He looked down at the ground and messed with some of the dirt.

 

**“I think Leonardo finally has feelings for Donatello.” 87Mikey pointed out the obvious.**

**“We knew that.” 12Mikey looked surprised. “We did? Owww!” He glared at his Raph who smacked him upside the head.**

**“Quit doing that!” He growled and scooted over to his Leo in hopes that his older brother would save him.**

**“Yes. We knew.” 12Leo told his brother glaring at 12Raph who whistled.**

“I also have other news to report. The careers have gathered the supplies from the Cornucopia and stacked them into a mound. They have been guarding it most fiercely and have a mutant leopard guarding it.” He drew the mound of supplies on the dirt while Leonardo thought.

 

“Who is it?” He asked.

 

“I think he’s from District 3, but that can be a guess. I don’t really know his name.” Usagi drew stick like figures in the dirt. “I have also realized that the ground near the mound is dirt freshly dug up. I don’t know exactly what they did but I know that they must have set up traps of some sort.”

 

“Do you have a plan?” He smirked at the smile Usagi gave him. “I already do.” Usagi explained his plan to Leonardo.

 

**“Why do I have a feeling like this is going to not go well.” 07Mikey said to the others.**

**The feeling was soon felt by the others. Somehow someone was going to die. After all this is the Hunger Games. “May the odds be ever in their favor.” 12Leo whispered under his breath as Leonardo and Usagi began to gather supplies for the plan.**


	16. Chapter 16

The two walked to the open area where the Careers stacked the supplies into a mound. And just like Usagi said, the Careers and a mutant jaguar was guarding it. Dirt piles where dug up and fresh dirt was piled on top of whatever hid underneath. Leonardo moved a branch out of the way slightly and saw the jaguar wielding a spear. He wore the number 3 on his strap.

 

Leonardo looked at Usagi and they backed away. “Are you sure this is a good idea?” Leonardo asked his new friend. Usagi nodded. “Absolutely. The Careers wouldn’t resist killing someone who is reckless of starting a fire. Now, all you have to do is wait for the smoke.” Usagi gathered branches around him and started making a pile.

 

“What do we do when we get caught? How will we know the other is alive?” Usagi paused. He turned toward Leonardo. “In my district, we have a call, like a whistle. Just listen.” He whistled. Soon, the birds seemed to repeat it.

 

“Jabberjays? There here too?” Leonardo was stunned.

 

**“You think he wouldn’t be surprised by that? You know the incident with the trackerjackers.” 07Raph stated. Watching Leonardo and Usagi shake hands and Usagi running off in the opposite direction.**

**“Well this is Leonardo we’re talking about. Always states the obvious.” The Leo’s glared at 03Raph who just smirked.**

Leonardo walked toward the back of the mound. Making sure not to step on any twigs or be seen. He didn’t have to wait long because soon Leonardo saw the smoke.

 

“Check that out!” Slash pointed north. They saw the smoke. The others grabbed their weapons and Tokkar pointed at the jaguar. “You guard the pile. Anything missing and your dead.” With that he ran off.

 

The jaguar looked nervous and stayed right where he was.

 

**“This guys a wimp. Why don’t he just take some and leave.” 12Mikey asked. They watched as the jaguar finally paced a couple times then he started walking in circles around the mound. Keeping an eye out for tributes.**

**“Dude, if you got threatened by a creepy dude like that guy, you wouldn’t move either.” 87Mikey pointed out to his younger counterpart. 12Mikey made an ‘oh’ face and looked back at the screen.**

Leonardo watched the jaguar sit down on a crate. He rested his arms on his legs and kept an eye out. He clutched his bow real tight. His palms were sweaty. He was hoping the Careers didn’t get Usagi and they wouldn’t return yet. He watched the jaguar carefully as he stepped out into the open keeping an eye out for more tributes. All of a sudden a white blur bolted out from the woods.

 

It was Apolex.

 

**“Man, I thought she didn’t make it.” 12Don said biting his bottom lip. They watched as she leaped over the mounds as quiet as she can and took off her pack and started filling it with the necessities she needed.**

Leonardo watched her, stunned, as she put the pack back on and leaped back over the dirt mounds and run back into the forest. The jaguar heard a twig snap and saw Apolex run back into the woods. He took off and chased after her.

 

**_“You know Fugitoid, the gamemakers just discovered that they placed bombs around the mound. Very clever.” Rocksteady praised. He had a smile on his snout while Fugitoid laughed._ **

****

**“They wouldn’t be laughing if it was them.” 12Leo snarled.**

 

Leonardo saw this as an opportunity to destroy the mound. He grabbed an arrow and loaded it. He aimed at a sack of apples. He took aim and fired. He missed. He was appalled. He loaded another arrow. ‘Come on,’ he thought, ‘the Careers will be back any time now.’ He started shaking.

 

**“Come on Leonardo, I know you can do it!” 87Don encouraged from where he sat. The others were practically at the edge of their seats.**

Leonardo closed his eyes. He let out a slow breath trying to get his arms to stop. He relaxed his stiff frame and let the arrow fly.

 

A direct hit.

 

The apples tumbled down the mound and they hit the ground. Activating the bombs. Leonardo turned to run but the blast got him and he was thrown into a tree.

 

**They all gasped and watched in awe as the bombs destroyed the mound.**

**“That. Was. AWESOME!” 12Mikey screamed. He jumped on the coffee table and fist pumped. “BOOYAKASHA!” He cried. He high fived his other counterparts along with his Raph and 87Raph.**

**“Yeah, that’s great, but what about Leo and Usagi?” 03Leo asked worried about his other counterpart on the screen. Who was slowly getting up.**

**“I’m sure he’s fine. They’re all fine.” No one answered. “Right?”**


	17. Chapter 17

Leonardo slowly sat up. He clutched his stomach. His left ear was buzzing and it sounded like he damaged it. He saw, through blurred vision, the Careers had ran back to the site. Slash grabbed the jaguar by the neck and twisted it. The canon went off.

 

**“Poor dude!” 87Mikey clutched the pillow he held.**

**“Leonardo’s still out in the open.” 07Raph pointed out. They saw Leonardo scramble up, using the tree as leverage to get up, and stumbling into the woods.**

**“If the Careers are back…where’s Usagi?” 87Don asked, looking at the screen as if he looked hard enough, the familiar white rabbit would appear.**

Leonardo stumbled into the woods. He had to get out of there. The Careers would see him. He finally got his vision normal and he quickened his pace. Now he had to meet up with Usagi.

 

He gave the whistle they discussed. The only thing he heard was the Mockingjay’s returning the call. He tried again. The same result. He traveled much farther in. He kept trying several times in different areas. Leonardo was afraid he would drawl the Careers toward him.

 

“LEONARDO!” He heard.

 

**“USAGI!” The turtles yelled at the same time as Leonardo called out to him.**

Leonardo twirled around, the trees seemed to blend together making Usagi’s voice come from different directions. It also didn’t help with his ear possibly damaged. “LEONARDO!” He heard again. It came from the right. He instantly ran toward where his name was coming from.

 

He kept running and running until he saw Usagi trapped. He was dangling from a tree branch with a rope tied around his ankle. His pack had fallen to the ground. When Leonardo walked into view he let out a sigh with relief.

 

“Thank goodness you heard me! Please let me down!” Leonardo climbed the tree and cut Usagi loose. He fell to the ground with a thud. Leonardo winced. “Sorry.” He quickly climbed down to help Usagi with the knot.

 

“I’m so glad you’re safe.” Leonardo gave Usagi a hug. The two friends embraced.

 

**“Thank goodness. I thought for a second there…” 03Mikey trailed off when they saw one of the Careers, Tokkar, sneak up on the two friends. He raised his spear. A murderous glint in his eyes.**

Tokkar made a fatal mistake. He stepped on a twig. Usagi and Leonardo sprang apart looking at Tokkar with shock. How did he find them? Tokkar hesitated but threw his spear at Leonardo. Leonardo dodged it and took out an arrow from his quiver and shot at Tokkar.

 

The arrow landed in his throat. Killing Tokkar instantly. Leonardo turned around to check on Usagi, but was frozen in shock. He wasn’t sure who screamed but he assumed it was him. For Usagi had a slack face, looking down at his stomach, where the spear was sticking out.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't use this song in the original fanfic so I changed it to another song fitting for the story.

“Usagi?” Leonardo gasped. Usagi seemed shocked. He looked down curiously at the spear. He grabbed the end where it was sticking out and slowly pulled it out. The tip of the spear was coated in blood. Leonardo felt like he was going to be sick. Usagi stared at the spear then looked back up at Leonardo.

 

He seemed to finally comprehend what had happened. Leonardo rushed to his friend when Usagi started to collapse. He cradled him close and sat on the ground, he position Usagi in a way so he would be comfortable.

 

“Did you blow it all up?” He let out. His voice was soft, like he had trouble talking. Leonardo felt his eyes get wet. He quickly blinked them away. ‘Can’t show weakness. I’m not weak!’ He nodded. “Yep, every bit of it.”

 

He started rocking. He didn’t even realize it but somehow he came to think Usagi as a little brother somehow. A brother who is also a friend. This is why he took Michelangelo’s place. He didn’t want his brother to see all the death.

 

He saw a wet spot on Usagi’s forehead. He realized he was crying. Usagi seemed to be fighting it. He clasped Leonardo’s hand that was pressing against his wound. “You have to win.” He said breathlessly. Leonardo nodded mechanically.

 

“I will. I promise.” Usagi nodded. He leaned his head back against Leonardo’s arm. Leonardo didn’t know how long they sat like that but he kept watching Usagi chest rise. Until it stopped. Leonardo let out a sob. He could finally let out the tears. He clutched his deceased friend, crying against his head.

 

He laid Usagi down gently. Suddenly it started to rain. He looked at the dreary sky the gamemakers made. How coincidental. He didn’t know why he started thinking of how Michelangelo was always afraid of rain storms. He started to sing a song he thought of for Mikey:

 

_I remember tears streaming down your face_

_When I said, "I'll never let you go"_

_When all those shadows almost killed your light_

_I remember you said, "Don't leave me here alone"_

_But all that's dead and gone and passed tonight_

**The turtles had tears running freely down their faces. The Mikey’s clung to each other while everyone else had the single tear run down their faces. Watch Usagi, especially 03 Leo, was hard. They liked Usagi and 03 turtles hopped the others would soon meet a version of Usagi in their own dimension.**

 

_Just close your eyes_

_The sun is going down_

_You'll be alright_

_No one can hurt you now_

_Come morning light_

_You and I'll be safe and sound_

 

Leonardo swore for a second he saw Mikey in Usagi’s place. That just made him cry harder, but he tried to get the song out even with his sobbing.

 

_Just close your eyes_

_You'll be alright_

_Come morning light,_

_You and I'll be safe and sound..._

The rain stopped. Leonardo had enough. The gamemakers can do anything they want, just as long as the games gets interesting. He started throwing leaves on the ground, his arms caked in mud, snapping twigs and even putting an arrow in a nearby tree. He sunk to his knees and tried to get his composed again.

 

He stood up. Head held high and curled his right hand into a fist. He put it against his palm and bowed. He gave Usagi’s body one more look and ran.

 

**“Man,” 87 Mikey sniffed, “that was totally awesome.” He bawled into the other Mikey’s. Everyone else gained their composure back and wiped at their eyes.**

**“That was pretty risky what he did.” 12 Leo pointed out.**

**“Yeah, but I notice a thing with all the Leo’s,” 03 Raph said, crossing his arms behind his head with a smile. “They always have honor.”**

Leonardo finally stopped and sat on a log. He was still in shock. He can’t remember much, but Usagi was dead. He looked at his hands. They were covered in blood. He tried wiping them off but it was too stained. Making his skin purple instead of green.

 

He quickly pulled out his canteen and completely emptied it by trying to get the blood off. He got the blood off, but had no water. He carelessly tossed his canteen aside and just sat there. ‘What am I to do now?’ He thought.

 

All of a sudden, like they knew what he was thinking, a voice came from out of nowhere.

 

“Attention Tributes. Attention! The regulations required a single victor has been... suspended! From now on, two victors maybe crowned if both originate from the same district. This will be the only announcement.” Leonardo did a body count.

 

The only two people from the same district was him and…”Oh my God, Donny!” He screamed and raced off to where Usagi told him where he saw Donatello last.

 

**“I feel like the gamemakers are getting a little too excited,” 07 Raph growled, “this could all be a set up!” He punched the couch arm.**

**“Why suddenly revoke the only one victor rule?” 12 Don asked the room at large.**

**“I’m thinking it’s another publicity stunt. You know, to show we have a heart sort of thing.” 87 Don replied, placing a hand on his chin.**

**“Looks like we have to wait. And watch.” They all watched Leonardo run toward the place where Usagi told Leonardo where Donatello was. The river.**


	19. Chapter 19

Leonardo ran quickly through the forest, pushing branches away and making sure not to trip on rocks. He kept an eye out for other tributes, his ear was still bugging him but he ignored that. He knew he damaged it. He kept on running to his destination.

 

He finally reached the river and started scanning for things out of place. He felt around the ground and even in the river for raised ground that looked like a limb. He finally felt something like a leg, his hand came back red. He thought he cut himself on something but the ground let out a groan.

 

“Donny!” He gave a shout and quickly helped the other turtle out. He was well camouflaged. Mud and dirt and leaves clung to his reptilian skin. Donatello let out a gasp when Leonardo pressed against his leg.

 

“Where are you hurt at?” He asked, helping the other turtle sit up. Donatello let out a slow breath, feeling dizzy when he sat up. “My…leg…” he let out between gasps of pain. Leonardo looked down and noticed a gash on Donatello’s left leg. The river water was probably infected with bacteria so it didn’t help the wound any. In fact, Donatello felt warm for a turtle.

 

“You have a fever from the infection. Come on,” he wrapped Donatello’s left arm along his shoulders and used himself as a weight for Donatello to lean on. “Let’s get you out of the river.” He led Donatello onto the bank and got his pack off. He searched through his bag for something to wrap his wound.

 

“You should leave me here.” Donatello winced when the bandages were pressed against the wound. “I’ll only slow you down.”

 

**“He’s just going to give up?” 12Don asked, staring wide eyed at the wound. “He’s survived this long. Besides the wound looks superficial. He’s going to be okay.”**

**“Yeah, but how long did he go without food?” 03Don asked his young counterpart.**

**“Hmmm,” he seemed to ponder. Then thought of his older selves point. “Perhaps your right.” He trailed off as he heard Leonardo yell at Donatello.**

“I’m not leaving you here.” Leonardo told him sternly. He continued to wrap his leg until it suited Leonardo. With that Leonardo helped Donatello up. “Where to now?” Donatello asked, eyes glazed from the pain and fever.

 

Leonardo looked around and noticed that across the river was a cave of some sort. “Across the river, looks like a cave.” He nodded his head in the general direction of the cave. “We’ll go there so you can rest.” Leonardo slowly helped Donatello get across the river.

 

The wet rocks slippery but they managed. He sat Donatello against the side of the rock shelter and got his bow and arrow ready. He went in first cautiously, checking to see if anything or another tribute found the cave first. When he found nothing he went back and got Donatello.

 

**“How covenant that a cave was right there, where they needed someplace to stay.” 03Raph commented, narrowing his eyes at the shelter. “Do you think it’s another trap?”**

**“Obviously not, otherwise they wouldn’t have noticed it. You need to chill out.” 03Leo scolded his brother.**

**03Raph growled. “Well, I can’t trust anyone here. It’s like a messed up version of hunting.” He punched his hand against his fist. “Leonardo should have let us in there, at least we could have helped.”**

**“No way dude,” 87Mikey piped up, “I’d rather stay here and watch and not starve to death, besides they don’t hunt pizza.” The 87 turtles shuddered at that. Everyone else looked at them oddly.**

**“It’s almost like a real version of the Most Dangerous Games,” 07Don pointed out. “Like that book?” 12Leo asked, looking at the tall Don.**

**“Yeah, a man hunts down people for excitement. It’s sort of like that, but having others play along. And this Lord Dregg is the man waiting for the right time.” The others looked at him in awe.**

**“You’re kidding right?” 07Leo asked his brother.**

**“How could I? It’s seems like it.” The other Don’s had to agree but no one else wanted to believe.**

**“How’s Leo going to treat Donny with the fever?” 12Mikey looked up at his brother. “He could die and I don’t want to see other Donny die.” He leapt onto his older brother and 12Leo hugged him comfortably.**

**“We just have to see.” They turned back to the screen, where Leonardo set Donatello down gently onto the rolled out sleeping bag.**

Leonardo rolled out his sleeping bag and let Donatello used it to cushion himself from the hard cold ground. Donatello let out a sigh of relief, not having pressure on his leg and something to lie on. He let out a groan when the pain started again.

 

“You alright?” Leonardo asked. He dug around for his can of cream the turtles sent him. He let out a growl. “What’s the matter?” Donatello asked.

 

“I had a can of medicine but I must have dropped it somewhere.” He pushed his backpack away angrily. “Do you have something?” Leonardo asked, hopping he would say yes.

 

“The Careers stole my pack and no parachute for me.” Donatello groaned, the pain was getting worse. He felt hot and he was tired. Leonardo saw this and took one of his arm bands off and went to the river to soak and come back to place it Donatello’s head.

 

“No parachutes?” He asked, getting angry that Casey wasn’t doing his job. Donatello shook his head, the coolness of the water was a relief.

 

“No,” he sighed, “but that doesn’t matter.”

 

“Yes it does.” Leonardo snapped. “You need medicine otherwise this fever is going to get worse.” He took off Donatello’s dirty mask, making a mental note to wash it later. Purple seemed to suit him. He also took off the arm bands to let Donatello get comfy.

 

“How do we do that?” Donatello asked, looking at Leonardo for ideas. Casey’s idea of star crossed lovers came to mind. Leonardo leaned down and placed his lips gently on Donatello’s. For a minute, Donatello didn’t respond, but soon Leonardo felt his lips move with his.

 

**“Okay, too much, make it stop!!!!” 12Mikey wailed. Everyone else was shocked and the Don’s and Leo’s didn’t even glance at each other.**

Soon enough, the kiss ended and the bleeping sound of a parachute was heard. Leonardo quickly got up, his face aflame, and went outside to collect what they got. He opened the canister and saw it wasn’t medicine but soup. A note was with it. ‘You call that a kiss?-Casey.’

 

Leonardo let out a sigh. ‘It’s the best I could do, you wanted lovers you got it.’ He thought and went back into the cave.

 

“Medicine?”

 

“No, soup, but it’ll keep you strong.” He spoon feed Donatello and ate the rest when he was done.

 

“I still think about it.” Leonardo looked at him. “What?”

 

“You in the rain, I should have ran straight to you and Mikey and given you guys the bread. Instead I threw it.” Leonardo felt his face heat up some more. “It was fine and delicious.” He tried to assure Donatello.

 

“Yeah, but the ground was dirty and I didn’t want you or Mikey to get sick.” He tried to sit up to talk to Leonardo but Leo pushed him back down gently. “It was burnt, Donny, no dirt couldn’t hurt us.” He chuckled.

“I still should have though, I still remember watching you go home, walking hand in hand with Mikey. Sorry if that sounds creepy.” Leonardo wanted to say yes, but with Donatello in a fever he couldn’t stop his rambling.

 

“That was the first time I admitted to myself I liked you. I still do,” He looked at Leonardo. “If I don’t make it, be sure to tell my parents I loved them.” He soon fell asleep right after. Leonardo just sat there. Thinking about the mixed up feelings and the warmth spreading from within his chest.

 

**“Interesting turn of events. Casey actually acting like a mentor for once.” 03Mikey grumbled, eating at a piece of fruit.**

 

**“He finally got his lovers thing didn’t he?” 07Leo pointed out, still not wanting to look at Don.**

**“I wouldn’t have expected Leonardo to actually go through with it.” 07Raph said, sitting with is arms crossed.**

Leonardo laid down beside Donatello and made himself comfy. He soon felt exhaustion overcome him and he fell asleep.

 

_Back in District 12, during Donatello and Leonardo’s kiss, the whole District was shocked. Some bought it and others didn’t. But one turtle saw the whole thing. Raphael stormed out of the house and went to the woods._


	20. Chapter 20

Leonardo woke up first. He sat up groggily and looked around at the unfamiliar place. Then everything came back like a tidal wave. He checked on Donatello right beside him and saw that his leg was getting worse. If he didn’t get medicine soon…Leonardo didn’t want to finish that.

 

He got up and stretched and walked out of the cave. Hoping to find some food. He grabbed his bow and arrows and walked into the woods. He climbed a tree so he could be out of sight from the other tributes. He looked out for game while he was in the tree. He managed to shoot a rabbit and a squirrel.

 

After cooking them he woke up Donatello. He was hot to the touch. His fever was getting worse. Donatello woke up groggily like Leonardo and winced from the pain in his leg. His eyes were a little glazed over from the pain and his forehead was soaked from sweat. Leonardo grabbed his arm band he used last night and went to wet it again.

 

**The turtles watch, pitifully, as Leonardo helped a sick and injured Donatello who seemed to be out of it. “Is there something we can do? Maybe have another parachute go down?” 03Mikey turned to look at his Don.**

**“I think so but we will have to do it under the cover of darkness. Who knows when we might get there?” His brother seemed satisfied with that answer and turned back to the screen.**

Donatello grasped Leonardo’s arm when a wave of pain hit him. He bit his lip so he wouldn’t let out a whimper but it slipped. Leonardo grasped Donatello’s wrist and rubbed it. When the pain subsided, Donatello let out a sigh and laid back down.

 

Leonardo mentally cursed himself for not keeping track of his stuff. He packed up the rest of the meat and kept it aside for later. He sat with his back to the cave wall, keeping an eye on Donatello and the entrance.

 

While he sat there, his thoughts wondered. Will he make it out of there? Will he see Mikey again? He promised he would win this, for Usagi. The remembrance of the ones who died here will not be forgotten. No matter who wanted to kill him. The threat of the other two careers worried him.

 

Karai and Slash was still out there. Are they still looking for him? They are the next couple from the same district as well, so he hopped they wouldn’t find them. He heard Donatello say his name, “Yes? What is it?” He crawled over to where the sick turtle laid.

 

“Can you do something for me?” He asked, his eyes closed and the wet armband on his forehead.

 

“Anything,” Leonardo assured him. “What is it?”

“Can you sing to me?” He asked, his voice breathless. “I always liked hearing you sing.” Leonardo looked down at the sick turtle. He didn’t care if Donatello was sick, he wasn’t going to do that.

 

“I’m not a good singer, you are just having a fever dream.” Leonardo lied to him, making his fever a good excuse to say that. He didn’t want to sing and attract unwanted attention.

 

“Why?” Donatello whined, throwing an arm up and letting it hit the ground. Leonardo was running out of patients but he kept his cool. He let out an agitated sigh. _Geez, it’s like taking care of Mikey when he gets sick,_ he thought.

 

Suddenly, Donatello was back to his normal self, “Why aren’t you playing along?” He hissed under his breath. Leonardo wanted to smack him now.

 

“What?” He asked angrily. “Why?” He wanted to know why this turtle was playing games.

 

“I’m hoping if we keep this up, someone will send medicine down.” Leonardo now hated him, sickness or no sickness, he wanted to kill him.

 

“What makes you think that if the kiss didn’t get us medicine, my singing will?” He asked the turtle. He snorted when Donatello didn’t answer. All of a sudden, a voice came over the intercom.

 

“Attention Tributes. Attention! Commencing Insurance. There will be a feast tomorrow at the Cornucopia. This will be no ordinary occasion. Each of you needs something. Desperately.”

 

**“So much for your idea, Einstein’s.” 03Raph teased his brothers.**

 

“And we planned to be...generous hosts.” With that the announcement was over.

 

“I need to get-“

 

“NO!” Donatello yelled, he lunged for Leonardo and pulled back because of the pain. “He said they have something we desperately needed, they might have the medicine for you.” Leonardo tried to get Donatello to see reason. He didn’t know why he wouldn’t let him get the package.

 

“Promise me, you'll not gonna risk your life for me.” He begged and licked his lips. “I'm not gonna let you do that.” His eyes looked so sincere.

 

“Would you do the same for me?” Leonardo asked him, waiting for his response.

 

“Why are you pinning this on me?” Donatello asked exasperated.

 

“Donny!”

“Please! Please, stay.” Donatello begged.

 

“Okay,” Leonardo gave in. “I promise.” Leonardo had a plan.

 

Soon night fell and they both fell asleep. The next morning Leonardo woke up extremely early and left the cave with his weapon.

 

**“Why do I have a bad feeling about this?” 12Raph asked aloud, but on one responded.**

**“Man,” 87Raph moaned, “I hate when people say that, then it gets worse!”**


	21. Chapter 21

Leonardo started toward the direction the Cornucopia was. He kept his bow at the ready in case of someone attacking him. He kept his pace nice and calm. Keeping his alert for the others. With what was said yesterday, something you desperately needed, all the tributes will be drawn to it.

 

He finally got to the Cornucopia with time to spare, the sun was slowly rising and he saw he was the first one there. On a table placed in front of the Cornucopia was four backpacks with a district number. With district 12 being the smallest. “That must be the medicine,” he mumbled to himself. He took a quick glance around and relaxed.

 

**“Big mistake,” 07Leo criticized. “You should always expect the unexpected.”**

**“Quit being backseat sensei, geez your bad as my brother.” 03Mikey complained, crossing his arms. 03 and 07 Leo gave each other a smirk.**

He was about to step out when all of a sudden, the white fox appeared out from the Cornucopia. He stood still. She grabbed the one with 7 on it and ran right back into the woods. Leonardo was already too exposed so he took to what she did. He ran for it.

 

He ran all the way to the table and grabbed the one with his district number on it. He turned to run back and managed to get a couple distance away from the Cornucopia when he felt something wrap around his legs. He fell right on his face, his pack landed a few feet away. He turned abruptly and saw it was Karai. She gave a hiss and narrowed her green eyes.

 

Leonardo felt like he couldn’t breathe.

 

“Where’ssss lover boy?” She hissed, giving him a sick sweet smile. Leonardo tried to get up but her snake hands trapped his arms. She used the rest of her body to coil up his legs trapping him. He couldn’t move.

 

Leonardo glared right back at her. “Oh, I see,” she let out a sweet sigh, “You’re gonna help him right? That’s so sweet.” She used her upper torso to put her whole weight on his chest. Leonardo let out a gasp and tried to get air right back into his lungs. She might not look like it, but she was heavy.

 

She used the end of her tail and brought out a knife. She made a small cut above his right eye. He let out a scream of pain. She smiled at hearing this.

 

**“Boy, do I soooo want her dead.” 03 Mikey growled. The others were tense.**

“It’s too bad you couldn’t help him, just like you couldn’t help your friend…” She paused, acting like she was trying to remember something. “What was his name?” She trailed off and smiled when Leonardo let a growl loose.

 

“Oh, yeah Usagi? A cute little rabbit he was, too bad we had to kill him.” She mocked down at him. Leonardo was struggling to escape. His newfound anger made him want to kill the female serpent. She moved the knife down to his neck. A paused when he felt the blade press against his neck.

 

“And now, I’m gonna kill you.” She went to slice his throat but she was roughly pulled off him. Leonardo went along with her due to the fact she was still wrapped around him, but was let loose when she surprisingly let him go. He sat up, blinking blood out of his eye. Gen, the rhino that was from the same district as Usagi, was holding the female snake by her throat. She was wrapped around his torso trying to squeeze him, but by her face, he could tell she was losing.

 

**“Who would have thought I would be happy to see that rhino again.” The others cheered when Gen saved Leonardo from Karai.**

 

“What did you just say?” His voice cold, his fingers squeezed tighter. “You killed him!” He shouted in her face. She was struggling to get air.

 

“No!” She managed to gasp. Then with one final grasp of air she shouted, “SLASH!” Like she was hollering for him to rescue her. Gen easily snapped her neck. She fell lifeless to the ground. Gen grabbed his pack then turned to face Leonardo.

 

**“Maybe you spoke to soon, Raph?” 12Mikey gulped at the angry look on Gen’s face.**

“Just this time, Leonardo-san,” he gave Leonardo a small bow, “for Usagi.” He raised his hand in the air and ran off in the opposite direction. A canon went off. That brought Leonardo out of his stupor and he finally got his senses together.

 

He got up stumbling slightly and grabbed the pack he threw when Karai attacked him. He took one last look at her body and ran back toward his direction of the forest. He had to make sure Donatello was okay, seeing as how the canon was sure to have woken him up.

 

He made it back to the cave and saw Donatello bright and alert. “I got it! I got your medicine!” He kneeled down beside Donatello and opened the pack. It was a small compact like thing and when he opened it, it was filled to the brim with a cream like substance. He didn’t know if this was medicine or not for sure.

 

“What happened? Are you okay?” He asked and his eyes were drawn to the cut above Leonardo’s eye and gasped. “Who did this to you? I woke up because the cannon who died?”

 

“The girl from two, she cut me with a knife.” Leonardo scooped up a small amount on his finger and rubbed some on Donatello’s leg. And as soon as he removed his finger, they watched in awe as the medicine did its job and the sore was gone.

 

**“I wish we had medicine like that, hey Donnie-“**

**“Don’t even bother.”**

“Now, you.” Donatello got some too and used it on Leonardo’s cut. As he did this he let his hand trace Leonardo’s jaw as they looked into each other’s eyes. “We can go home.” Leonardo stated.

 

“What?” Donatello asked, confused with the statement.

 

“We’re the only two from the same district we can go home.” He said, a little more lively this time. A smile spread on his face and soon Donatello was smiling too. The both of them let out laughs of joy of how they did it. They managed to survive.


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter focuses on the turtles.

“Who knew they would make it this far?” 12Leo said out loud. It was nightfall in the arena and the two turtles were cuddling together in Leonardo’s sleeping bag. Of course, he still was a little uncomfortable but hey, it’s his counter parts choice.

“What?” The others turned to him.

“Sorry, I thought I said that to myself.” He rubbed the back of his neck, looking down at the floor. 

“No it was pretty loud for all of us to hear.” 03Don assured him, from where he was standing looking out the window. He saw the lights the Capitol had and wondered if this is how the world will be if Shredder managed to take over Turtle Prime. 

That reminded him.

“I finally figured out who saved us from being deleted.” This caused his brothers and the 87 turtles gasp. “You did?” 

“Who?” 87Leo asked, the others just stood and listened.

“Karai.” They let out a gasp.

“But why?” 03Leo looked toward his smart brother.

“Think about it, how many times she has defied the Shredder to save our sorry shells.” He looked toward his eldest. 

“Now that you mention it,” “Too many!” 03Mikey interrupted his Leo.

“There still isn’t evidence or proof that she even did that? And why would she send us here?” 03Raph growled, he was sick and tired with time travel. 

“She has full access to the control room,” he stopped to think, then remembered something about the young versions of themselves said. “She might have found a time window and put us in it. One that was off the radar of the multiverse of turtles.” 

“That makes sense. Now how do we get home?” 87Mikey asked, open for suggestions.

“I honestly have no idea,” 03Don sighed. “It will have to take a miracle to get us home.” 

12Mikey was quiet, then he let out an excited yell, “Guys, I have an idea!”

They waited for it. “So…spill.” 03Raph growled, not wanting to put up with his crazy ideas. He knew his Mikey well enough to know he might say something stupid. 

“We just have to figure out a way to contact Rennet and see if she can find us.” 12Mikey closed his eyes with satisfaction. “I know I’m a genius.” 

They stood flabbergasted at him. “I don’t know whether that idea is brilliant or stupid.” 12Don was shocked. 

“Duh, dude, they should have made me the smart one.” He tapped his head with emphasis.

“How’s that gonna work? She can’t find us unless she does that weird floating head thing.” 12Raph moved his hands in a weird shape to resemble a head. He gave his brother an annoyed look.

“I think all this time watching television has finally rotted your brain.” 12Mikey felt his face get red.

“I thought it was a good idea.” He felt someone pat his head. He looked up and saw his older brother giving him an encouraging smile. “It was a good idea,” he gave 12Raph a sly smile, “someone’s just jealous because he didn’t think about it.” 

“I’m not!” 12Raph yelled getting red in the face. 

“Alright calm down, let’s not start anything.” 03Leo being the voice of reason. “Now, is there any way to contact your Rennet? Can it be done?” 

“I don’t know, but I’ll have to make a communicator that will be able to pick up the time scepters signature it radiates. Then she should be able to find us. But it will take time.” 12Don explained, already having the blueprints ready within his mind.

“Well looks like we got all the time in the world.” 07Raph said, staring out into nothing, thinking about how his father was missing his sons.


	23. Chapter 23

Donatello and Leonardo reached a decision. They have to go to the Cornucopia. They gathered what they have and Leonardo helped Donatello up. “Thanks.” He smiled at Leonardo, who blushed.

 

“You’re welcome, now come on.” They both climbed out of the cave and crossed the river and headed toward the Cornucopia.

 

**“What are they doing?” 87 Leo asked, watching as they started walking through the forest.**

**“There’s three left, they shouldn’t be out in the open.” 03 Leo observed. The turtles watched as the two on the screen cautiously move through the forest.**

**“They must be heading toward the Cornucopia. That’s the only place left to go.” 87Raph said.**

“Okay,” Donatello spoke, “we know that Apolex took off and she could be anywhere. Gen is probably hanging somewhere south from here. And Slash will probably be at the Cornucopia so we have to be extra careful.” Leonardo nodded and clutched his bow tighter, keeping an ear out for anyone.

 

“We could hunt around here,” Donatello suggested, Leonardo turned and looked at him. “Sure, are you hungry?”

 

Donatello nodded. Leonardo placed his backpack on the ground. He pointed ahead of them. “I’ll go this way and you go that way,” he motioned toward the left. “If you hear anything, we holler for each other.” Donatello nodded.

 

“Be careful.” He warned and walked off. Leonardo watched him walk away for a bit and got an arrow ready. He stalked forward, keeping an eye out. All of a sudden, the canon went off.

 

**“Oh no,” 07Don gasped, his hand going to his forehead. “Don’t tell me that-“**

**“I’m sure the dude is totally fine,” 87Mikey said, “I hope.” He whispered under his breath.**

“DONNY!” Leonardo yelled. He was terrified. How could Donatello not holler for him? Leonardo put back the arrow and ran toward the spot where they were. He finally reached it and saw his pack and a pile of blue berries. No Donatello.

 

“DONNY!” He hollered again. When he turned around he bumped into someone. He started to reach for an arrow when he saw it was Donatello.

 

“Are you okay?” Leonardo looked over Donatello. He saw Donatello had a hand full of the same blue berries. He recognized them instantly now that the adrenaline was gone.

“That's nightlock Don! You will be dead in a minute!” Leonardo slapped the berries away. Donatello looked absolutely terrified.

 

“Sorry I... I didn't know.” He stuttered. He kicked the pile he already made and the berries scattered.

 

**“Then who died?” 03Leo asked. Hoping that they would find out.**

“I thought you were dead.” Leonardo hugged Donatello. Donatello was surprised by the hug and returned it. “I’m sorry.” He whispered. Leonardo just clung harder.

 

“So who died?” Donatello asked, Leonardo then let go. He looked over to the left and saw something purple blowing in the wind. He saw Donatello with all his purple gear and he started making his way over.

 

He happened upon a familiar white female fox. Apolex.

 

**“She ate the berries.” 03Don pointed toward the right hand that held another berry that looked like she was ready to eat it.**

**“I was hoping she wouldn’t die like that.” 87Leo said sadly.**

Donatello walked up beside Leonardo.

 

“I don't even knew, she was following me.” Donatello said mournfully.

 

“She’s clever. Too clever, but this is what happens when you’re hungry.” Leonardo agreed. Then he suddenly got an idea. He went to a nearby bush and stated picking.

 

“What are you doing?” Donatello asked.

 

“Maybe Slash likes berries?” Leonardo said calmly.

 

**“I feel like this is going to end badly.” 87Don said calmly.**

**“I hate it when he says that.” 87Raph mumbled.**


	24. Chapter 24

Donatello and Leonardo was walking again when all of a sudden the sky started turning dark. They could hear the sounds of crickets.

 

**“What is going on now?” 12Raph grouched. They all watched as Leonardo and Donatello stop and watch as day turned into night.**

“Why is it so dark all of a sudden?” Leonardo asked Donatello.

 

“The gamemakers want to finish this thing.” Donatello replied holding tightly to his pack. They slowly inched forward but stopped again when they heard a scream mixed in with growling noises. The canon fired.

 

“Who or what was that?” Donatello asked, looking around in panic.

 

**At the penthouse TV, it showed a picture of Gen, the rhino that saved Leonardo. “But my question is what got him?” 07Leo asked. They all gasped when they heard a scream. They saw something big tackle Donatello to the ground, tearing at the pack.**

Leonardo or Donatello didn’t even see it coming. A big brown beast jumped out of nowhere and attacked. It tackled Donatello to the ground and ripped the pack. Donatello quickly took off the pack and grabbed Leonardo’s wrist.

 

“GO!” They both took off.

 

They pushed low hanging branches away and tried to avoid any rocks. Leonardo could hear the heavy breathing of the beast chasing them. Up ahead, between a break in the trees, he saw the Cornucopia. “There!” He shouted and pointed in the direction of the Cornucopia. They broke through the forest and ran as fast as they could toward the huge structure.

 

**“I don’t think they will make it!” 03Don exclaimed, gripping the couch with a firm grip. Everyone leaned forward and watched as they stopped to climb the Cornucopia. With the beast right behind them.**

“You first,” Leonardo said and folded his hands to create a step for Donatello to use. “And hurry!” Donatello nodded and grabbed hold of the metal structure. The thing had several dents of metal that stuck out like a ledge to grab onto to.

 

He hauled himself up and flipped over onto his stomach to reach down for Leonardo. He looked up and saw the beast where coming up fast. “They’re coming!” He hollered. Leonardo threw his quiver of arrows and his bow up first then jumped, grabbing Donatello’s hand with his first jump.

**“Whew!” They all let out a sigh, “That was close.” 12Mikey let out a sigh.**

**“Not for long!” 87Leo yelled.**

When Donatello helped Leonardo up and over they didn’t see a big turtle charge at them. Soon they were split apart and Leonardo almost fell off the edge. He was about to get up when a giant hand grabbed his throat. Leonardo tried to pry the giant hand off. He looked up. It was none other than Slash.

 

“Well, well,” he teased, “look who it is. Leonardo! So great to see ya again.” He chuckled at his little joke. Leonardo let out a gasp, trying to get some air. Slash raised his hand to strike him but was hit over the head with his bow. Leonardo quickly got away from the edge and saw Donatello fighting with Slash. He saw his bow, which Donatello used he assumed, and grabbed an arrow and got ready to fire.

 

Except Slash had Donatello in a headlock. Using him as a shield.

 

“Go ahead,” Slash snarled, blood running down the side of his head and nose. “Shot me and we both go down.”

 

**“When things go right,” 87Mikey started.**

**“Something must go wrong.” 07Leo finished. They all watched as Leonardo stood there, looking clueless, figuring out what to do next.**


	25. Chapter 25

“Go ahead,” Slash snarled, blood running down the side of his head and nose. “Shot me and we both go down.”

 

Leonardo stood there, with wide eyes as he watched Slash trying to strangle Donatello. Leonardo didn’t know what to do. He was debating to just shoot Slash in the head, but like he said Donatello wouldn’t have time to escape. He saw Donatello trying to catch his eye. He looked at Donatello.

 

He mouthed, ‘Right here,’ he tapping at the arm that was around his neck.

 

“Go ahead,” Slash chuckled, “Do it! You’d win. Isn’t that what you wanted?” Slash was hysterical. The adrenaline and the killing was starting to get to him.

 

Leonardo took aim at the arm and let the arrow hit. Slash yelled in pain, letting Donatello go and grasping his arm. Donatello quickly turned around and pushed Slash off. Slash fell to the ground with a thud and the beasts went at it. Slash was slowly being torn apart. Slash was yelling in pain and he held an arm up, looking at the two turtles on top the Cornucopia.

 

“Please help,” he grunted, the desperation in his voice was killing Leonardo. Donatello and Leonardo looked at each other. Leonardo got another arrow, the last one, and shot it into Slash head. With that, the beast seemed to stop and run off.

 

**“So did they win?” 87Mikey asked.**

**“I think they did!” 07Don cheered. All the turtles gave each other high fives.**

Leonardo and Donatello slide off the Cornucopia. Donatello turned to Leonardo and gave him a hug, who happily returned it. “We did it! We can go home!” Leonardo gave him a tight squeeze and gave a small chuckle.

 

Suddenly, an announcement was made. “Attention, attention,” Leonardo and Donatello broke apart fast. “There has been a slight rule change. The previous provision allowing for two victors from the same district has been revoked. Only one victor maybe crowned. Good luck. And may the odds be ever in your favor.”

 

Leonardo felt his blood go cold. He was shocked, first they wanted two and now just one. Now it was a choice to pick which one goes home.

 

**“I hate when things go right then someone decides to mess it up,” 07Raph growled, punching the wall.**

**07Leo placed a comforting hand on his brother’s shoulder.**

“Go ahead,” Leonardo threw his stuff to the ground. “Kill me.” He simply said. Donatello looked at him with horror.

 

“What?” Donatello was shocked.

 

“One of us has to go home,” he simply said.

 

“Yeah and that should be you,” Donatello said. “You have Mikey and Splinter to go home too. I don’t!” Leonardo had enough. He grabbed ahold of Donatello’s gear and pulled him close so he was in his face.

 

“You do,” he said in his face. “You have your parents.”

 

“They never liked me,” Donatello yelled.

 

“Sure they do,” Leonardo said softly. “Besides, I’m telling you to go home.”

 

“If you do that then what will Mikey or Raph or Splinter do?” Leonardo already thought of that. He was sure Splinter would go back to the empty shell he was when his wife died and Mikey would rely on Raph to feed him. Raph would be upset that he wasn’t coming back and not hunt like he should.

 

“They want one victor,” Leonardo said, going to his pack and pulling something out. “Why should they?” He opened his hand to show the nightlock berries they had planned to give to Slash. Donatello looked at him and tried to shove the berries out of his hand.

 

“What do you think you’re doing?” Donatello asked in panic.

 

“What if they don’t get one victor at all?” Donatello seemed to understand. Leonardo gave him one berry and took one himself. Throwing the remaining ones on the ground. “Trust me.” Leonardo said, looking at Donatello with a look that meant he was giving up but being strong.

 

“On three?” Donatello asked. Leonardo nodded.

 

**“Aren’t those berries the same ones that killed that one fox?” 12Mikey asked, having his hands on top of his head.**

**“They are going to commit suicide,” 12Don said in shock.**

**“So they don’t have a winner.” 03Don finished off.**

**They all watched as Leonardo and Donatello stood toe to toe, looking at each other straight in the eye. They raised their hands to their mouths.**

“One…”

 

“Two…”

 

“Three…” They were about to eat the berries when the announcer interrupted them.

 

“Stop! Stop! Ladies and gentlemen. May I present the winners...” the two turtles stopped and looked at each other, “.. of the 74th Annual Hunger Games.” Leonardo and Donatello let the berries go and smiled with relief.

 

**“Yes!” They all shouted.**

**“COWABUNGA!”**

**“BOOYAKASHA!”**

**Everyone watched as the two were put on a hovercraft and taken out of the arena. “So what do we do now?” 87Mikey asked, “Why aren’t we being zapped out of here?”**

**They all looked at each other. Why weren’t they?**


	26. Chapter 26

Leonardo woke up on a soft bed. He was glad that he was back in the penthouse. He remembered getting cleaned and taken care of. He then remembered the return to the penthouse. Donatello and him had a good meal, they literally ate everything off their plates. Casey and April was happy when they came back. 

“So proud,” Casey was actually talking to him. For once they weren’t arguing with each other or sarcastic responses. April and Donatello was chatting when Casey motioned for him to follow. Leonardo followed Casey to the rooftop where Donatello and him had a talk before the games. Which seemed like a long time ago. 

“You know they are angry at you,” Casey said. Skipping straight to the point. Leonardo crossed his arms and leaned on the bar. 

“Why because we didn’t die?” He asked casually, not really caring what the capital thought. “I’m sorry that it didn’t go the way they planned.” 

“I’m serious, Leonardo,” Casey used his name, this time with a tone Leonardo never heard on the salamander. “They don't take this things lightly. Especially with the stunt you and lover boy pulled off.” Leonardo contemplated that. 

He knew that they were never supposed to do that. He went back to his room where he was pounced on by the other turtles. 

“Hey!” He shouted, grunting when the Mikey’s on top of him. 

“Alright, alright, get off him you dope heads.” 03Raph pushed the Mikey’s off and held a hand out for Leonardo to take. He smile and grabbed the offered hand. 03Raph patted Leonardo on the shoulder. 

“Proud of you,” he held up a fist for Leonardo, who returned the fist pump. “That’s why you are an honorary turtle.” 

“But I am a turtle,” Leonardo chuckled. 03Raph narrowed his eyes but let a chuckle. “Of course you are.” He gave Leonardo a pat and with that he remembered falling on his bed and falling asleep when his head hit the pillow. 

That’s what brought him here. He got off the bed when he heard a knock on the door. He opened it and saw a familiar face. Irma.

“Hey looky here,” She let a smile stretch across her face. “The victor of the 74th Hunger Games.” 

“Irma, I’m so glad to see you,” Leonardo let her in and gave her a hug. She didn’t come empty handed. He looked down and saw something draped across her arm. She noticed him looking and smirked. 

“So glad you didn’t miss my costumes cause you and Donatello are due for an interview,” she smirked at Leonardo’s face going pale. 

“You know they always interview the victor,” she said while laying the outfit on his bed. 

“Yeah but I have to act again,” he said while looking at the outfit on the bed. He saw it was another kimono, just a plain blue kimono made out of silk. He smiled. 

“I will always go with the kimono,” She smiled. “I’ll be outside waiting for you when you’re done changing.” With that she left. He got dressed and walked out the door and at the same time Donatello walked out. They looked at each other. Donatello was wearing the same thing but his was purple. 

“You look great,” Leonardo complimented him. Donatello blushed, “Thanks, you too.” Leonardo smiled and let out a sigh. 

“Let’s go?” Donatello nodded and they walked out into the main room. Leonardo saw the turtles waiting for them. They all smiled, “You look good, dude,” 87Mikey whispered. Leonardo smiled at him when he made sure the others weren’t looking. 

The guys followed them into the elevator. He was so happy that the others couldn’t see them and that he could only touch them. Otherwise this would be a cramped elevator. Casey walked to the front and turned to face them. 

“Now you made a scene in the games,” Casey ran a hand over his face. “You say you couldn't help yourself. You're so in love with this turtle,” He pointed at Donatello, but kept looking at Leonardo. 

“Understood.” Leonardo nodded. 

“You have to say you couldn’t live without him and you rather die than not have him.” Donatello nodded. The elevator stopped and they all got out to be put into a car to head to the place where the interview would be. 

The turtles followed Leonardo and Donatello backstage and they waited by the screen. They both waited for their cue and walked onstage when Fugitoid called them on. The crowd clapped so loud Leonardo thought his hearing was going. 

When they finally settled and got some questions answered was when Casey’s information came in handy.   
“How did you feel? When you found him by the river?” Fugitoid asked.

Leonardo grabbed Donatello’s hand and took a deep breath before answering. “I felt like the happiest person in the world. I couldn't imagine life without him.” The audience awed. Leonardo smiled at Donatello who smiled back. 

“What about you Donatello?” He asked.

“He just saved my life but we really saved each other.” The audience awed some more. Leonardo and Donatello smiled at each other some more.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the star cross lovers of District 12, this year’s victors of the 74th annual Hunger Games.” Fugitoid announced and the audience applauded. The two took a bow and walked off stage. Leonardo saw the turtles looking at him. The Mikey’s were making kissy faces at them. 

April led them back to the car where they were charted off to the place where they were put on chariots. They were led to the balcony were the capital president was waiting. President Dregg welcomed them with a warm smile, but Leonardo knew that it was forced. He didn’t get the joy or entertainment that came with the games. 

He grabbed one crown and put it on Donatello’s head. He grabbed the other crown and placed it on Leonardo. He smiled at Leonardo, “Congratulations.” Dregg said, Leonardo smiled at him.

“Thank you,” he replied. Dregg moved away and addressed the crowd. “These are the victors of the 74th annual Hunger Games.” The crowd exploded with applause and with that they were taken back to the penthouse and changed and soon they were on the train heading home.


	27. Chapter 27

Leonardo was on the back cart again, looking out the window. “Hey, guys,” he asked and the turtles looked at them. “Why haven’t you all gone back to your own dimensions?” 

The others shrugged. “It’s the geniuses that has to deal with that,” 03Mikey said, “but from what I remember we were scanned and sent here, so we might not be leaving anytime soon.” 

Leonardo sighed, “I can’t just be talking to you guys, to others it’s like talking to thin air. If I bring game home and expect more than what I trade for someone is going to be suspicious.”

“I know but Renee was the reason we got here,” 12Don pointed at his brothers. “Maybe if she finds us and she could send these guys back too.” 

He was about to respond when the door to the cart opened and he saw Donatello walk in. 

“What you doing here,” he asked Leonardo. “Everyone else is at the dinning cart.” 

“Just wanted a time to myself.” Donatello sat across from him. They sat in silence until Donatello spoke up again. 

“So what happens when we get back?” He asked Leonardo. Leonardo never thought about that. 

“I don’t want to forget what happened in the games.” Leonardo simply said. 

“Me neither.” Donatello said and Leonardo saw him turn to look out the window. 

They all arrived back at District 12, a crowd was at the train station waving at them. They stood on the step of the train and smiled at the welcome home party. Leonardo saw Mikey waving at him with a smile on his face, sitting on top of Raph’s shoulders, who smiled back. 

The turtles were looking at the crowd through the window. “So what happens now?” 03Don asked his Leo. 

“I don’t know,” 03Leo watched Leonardo reunite with his family. “I feel like this is only the beginning.”

**Author's Note:**

> Decided to put this story from FanFiction to here, enjoy :)!


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